Bad Moon Rising
Oo000oo000oO
A Kim Possible fanfic.
Oo000oo000oO
Insert magazine. Press down on slide release. Let slide go forward. Flip up safety. Flip down safety. Pull slide back. Eject magazine.
Repeat.
Using a crate as a backrest, Ron sat on the floor of the cargo 747 that Wade had procured passage for him and Naota, and endlessly worked the functions of the star. Normally, on a flight like the one that they were on, he'd be trying to get some sleep. Normally.
But, in this case, it was far from a normal mission. He was heading back to the US, to confront and kill the monster that had killed his best friend, tried to kill him and infected him with lycanthropy in the process, and then had cloned his best friend and then warped her image to suit whatever mad scheme he was up to.
"Can't sleep?" a voice asked in Japanese.
Ron paused in what he was doing, the slide locked back on the Star, magazine in hand, and looked up to see Naota standing over him with a pair of plastic boxes in either hand.
"Yeah." he answered back in Japanese. "I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd practice what you showed me."
"Not a bad idea." Naota said, and handed a box to Ron. "Here. Your girlfriend made you a bento." he said.
"Shego knows how to make a bento?" asked Ron as he took the box.
"No. Some of the kuonichi showed her how." Naota answered as he sat down opposite Ron in a cross legged position. "She did pretty good. I think she'd make a good wife." he added, getting a snicker of amusement from Naota. "What?"
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about Shego of all people being a typical Asian homemaker." Ron explained. "That would be something that I would pay to see."
Naota thought about it for a moment and snapped his fingers. "Yeah, you're right.' he said. "She's too American for that. Though she'd fit in real well with the kunonichi of my clan." he added as he opened his meal.
"They're all headstrong like she is?" Ron asked as he opened his meal as well.
Naota nodded. "Yeah." he said "But she'd need to work her loyalty."
"Her loyalty?" asked Ron as he picked up his chopsticks.
Naota looked up at Ron. "Stoppable -san, in the Hagakure, the clan is family, and the family is clan." he explained "Above all, our loyalty must be absolute. It's the only way we've been able to survive."
"So how does volunteering to do a mission for the Yamanuchi fit into that?" Ron asked.
Naota shrugged and picked up a bit of sushi. "Before my father dropped me off, he told me that I was to obey Sensei like he was my jonin." he explained "That's why. This is what would be expected of a Yamanuchi ninja."
Ron thought about what Naota had said for a moment, then a thought struck him. "And what if what the Yamanuchi were doing was against the interest's of the Hagakure?" he asked. "What would you do then?"
"Obey my orders." was Naotas response as he popped the sushi into his mouth "No matter what they are."
"Even though that would have you acting against your clan?" Ron asked as Naota munched on his sushi. "What would happen to you?"
"Depends on what I did." Naota said. "If it was serious enough, I'd be killed."
"Then why do it?" Ron asked. "If you're acting against your clan, wouldn't it be more prudent to slip away and tell them?"
Naota looked up at Ron and cocked his head to one side "But then I would be disobeying my orders, and I would be killed."
Ron shook his head in exasperation "Naota, why the hell are you loyal to them then?" he asked. "How have they earned that loyalty?Why be loyal to them at all? That's... that's like what Drakken's did to Shego."
Naota sat bolt upright. "What?" he asked. "Could you repeat that?" he asked.
"Drakken did that to Shego." Ron explained. "He went behind her back and acted against Kim, and then he tried to kill her when she called him on it." he elaborated "He stabbed her in the back. It's basically what your clan would do be doing to you in the situation that we're discussing."
"I- I never thought about it that way." Naota said, putting down his meal
"Perhaps you should." Ron told him. "You're nine. Your biggest concern should be video games and catching cooties from girls, not sounding like.. like the way you are."
"I haven't been a normal kid since I was five." Naota told him "Maybe it's for the best that I'm this way, that I can be of the best use to the clan." he added, clearly uncomfortable with the fact that Ron had gotten him to question his loyalty.
Ron saw that he was making Naota uncomfortable and decided to take a different tack "Naota, fatalisim is the absolute last thing a ninja clan needs. Instead, what they need are people who are willing to live for their clan." he said. "Absolute loyalty is a must for a group like your clan. But to get that, they can't be that stupid. I don't think they'd kill you for not working against the clan's interest's."
"Oh." Naota said.
"Yeah." Ron said. "Oh. You need help. As in the mental health professional kind of help. Like I said, a nine year old shouldn't talk like that."
Naota nodded once and picked up his bento. "Okay." he said. "I'll think about it."
"Please do." Ron said. "You managed to get Shego freaked out, and now that I've talked to you, me too."
Naota grunted in acknowledgement and focused on his meal, ending the conversation.
Oo000oo000oO
They landed at Kansas City International Airport, where Wade had arranged a truck to pick them up. On the almost hour and a half drive to where Drakken's hideout was, Ron and Naota geared up in the back of the truck.
Ron's gear was fairly standard for him- black commando sweater, khaki cargo pants, patrol boots, belt. The two changes in his gear was the Lotus Blade, which he transformed into a tactical folder and clipped to his right hip pocket, and the Star that Augustin had given him.
That was clipped to his waistband with a neoprene holster that Naota had provided him- where the kid got it, he didn't know, and figured it was probably best not to ask. The spare mag he just shoved into an empty belt pouch.
Naota, on the other hand, was geared up completely different from what Ron had seen the Yamanuchi use. For one thing, he wore what looked like a tactical vest, sized for a child. When he asked Naota what the vest was for, he'd responded with "bulletproofing".
That made Ron suddenly feel very under equipped and exposed for a few moments, until he remembered that he was a werewolf now, and that he really didn't need to worry about bullets, unless they were silver.
Another bit of gear that Ron wasn't expecting was the massive black pistol with a large clunky laser sight that Naota shoved into a holster on his right leg. Ron recognized it easily from all the first person shooters he'd played: An H&K Mark 23 with the first generation LAM (Laser Aiming Module). Where his clad had gotten that massive pistol, Ron did not know, and he really wasn't going to ask questions.
A large suppressor for the pistol went into a pouch on the holster, and half a dozen magazines went into pouches on the boy's vest. Along with the reloads went several kunai, shuriken, caltrops, and other assorted painful looking instruments.
Rounding out the collection of potential mayhem was an eight inch tanto style knife that Naota slid into a scabbard attached to the front of his vest on the left shoulder.
"Think you got enough weapons there kid?" asked Ron as Naota snapped the retention strap into place on his knife's scabbard.
"No." Naota answered. "I normally have a long arm with me as well." he added, patting the empty pouches on the front of his vest for emphasis.
That made Ron shiver for some reason.
"Ah, Ron? You're nearing your drop off point." Wade's voice issued from a speaker set into the front bulkhead of the truck.
"Wade?" Ron asked. "How did you-?"
"This is a prototype UDV." Wade explained. "I'm developing them for a messenger service I own through a holding company."
"Wha-huh?" Ron asked, now completely befuddled.
"Nevermind, it's not important." Wade said, changing the subject. "Get ready."
"Oh, right." Ron said, and started undoing the straps holding the miniature off road vehicle down.
"Okay, open the back door and get on the four wheeler." Wade said over the speaker. "When you're situated, I'll back this thing into position and you two can get going."
"Right." Ron said, then turned to Naota. "Get on the four wheeler." he said in Japanese. "I'm going to open up the door."
"Okay." Naota said.
Popping the latch, Ron slid the door up all the way, and found himself looking out over a vast, empty, expanse of Kansas farmland. They were pulled over on the side of a two lane, black topped road that stretched straight off into a flat horizon, and all around them fields of wheat rippled in the breeze.
Poking his head out the door, Ron looked to his left and saw a narrow, ungated dirt road that lead off into the distance. He guessed that was the road that they were going to take to get within walking distance of Drakken's base.
When they were close enough, he and Naota were going to ditch the ATV and make their way on foot, using the wheat fields to cover their approach. When they got there, they were going to wait until dark, and then try to find a way into the base, where they were going to complete their objectives.
Sighing, Ron turned around and got onto the ATV. Turning the ignition switch, Ron hit the starter button and it cranked to life. Revving the throttle a couple of times, he put on the helmet that was hanging off the left handlebar and buckled it on.
Checking behind him, he saw that Naota had put his helmet on. Revving the motor, Ron popped the clutch and they rocketed out of the trailer.
Oo000oo000oO
"There it is." Ron said, stopping the ATV on top of a slight rise.
"Lot's of cover." Naota noted, looking at the rippling fields of wheat that surrounded the farm.
Ron grunted and looked at where the sun was in the sky, then back at the fields. "If we take our time, it should be sundown by the time we get there."
Naota nodded and pulled his helmet off. "Let's get going." he said.
"Let's." Ron said and pulled his helmet off.
Oo000oo000oO
After stashing the ATV, Ron and Naota slipped into the wheat fields and began the long, hot, dirty belly crawl to the farm. Pausing in his crawl to take a drink of water from his canteen, he heard Naota do the same in the row to his right.
Stashing his canteen, Ron resumed crawling along the row of wheat. When he reached the edge of the field he discovered that a dirt road separated it from the adjoining field. Peeking his head out of the wheat, Ron looked up and down the road and saw that the coast was clear.
Spotting a drainage pipe, Ron slithered down into the ditch next to the road and began crawling towards it, Naota following him.
And that was how the pair of them spent the next few hours as they inched their way towards Drakken's base.
Oo000oo000oO
They reached the base as the last bits of the sunset hemorrhaged out over the western horizon and the outdoor lights came on, bathing the immediate area with light and long fingers of shadow.
It was in one of these fingers of shadow that Ron and Naota lay, peeking out from the wheat field.
"I hope that they don't have cameras." Naota whispered to Ron.
His question tripped a memory in Ron's mind and he dug into one of the pouches on his belt.
"Hold on." he whispered back. "I think I got something that can help out with that."
"What?" Naota asked as Ron withdrew what looked like a monocular with a Nintendo DS. "What is that?" he asked.
"EFM." Ron replied, pronouncing it ee-fem. "Or as Wade called it, the Electronic Field Mapper."
Naota blinked. "What?" he asked.
Pressing a button on the side, he lifted the device up to his eye. "From what I understand, it scans the environment makes a visual representation of anything electronic."
"Ah." Naota said. "That... That's really useful."
"Yeah." Ron agreed as he swept the device across the various buildings. "Wade's always good for things like this."
As he peered through the EFM, he saw the various buildings, grounds, and other assorted objects rendered as murky silhouettes, while things like power lines and lamps showed up as bright white.
When he scanned the barn that they were hiding behind he noticed that he could faintly see the lamps inside shining through the walls. He vaguely remembered Wade telling him that if the field was strong enough that you could see it through walls at short range.
Which meant that whatever was in the barn, it was lit up like the fifty yard line at a Bulldogs game.
"You see anything?" Naota asked.
"Uh-uh." Ron said and lowered the EFM. "Looks clear." he added.
"So, where's the base entrance?" Naota asked as they got up.
"Barn." Ron said.
Scuttling across the twenty yards to the back of the barn, they looped around to the side where they found a side door. Testing the latch, Ron was surprised that it was unlocked. He was about to pull it open when Naota tapped him on the shoulder.
"What?" he asked.
"Check the door, with the sensor." Naota pointed out.
Ron paused for a second, realized that the boy was right, the door could be wired and pulled the EFM from it's pouch. Scanning the frame with the sensor he saw that the frame was clean.
"Frame's clear." Ron said and went to put the EFM away but Naota stopped him.
"Let me see that for a second." Naota said, holding out his hand.
Curious, Ron handed Naota the device as he cracked the door open, a sliver of light spilling out. Holding up the EFM, he scanned the interior of the barn with the device. When he was done, he opened the door more and slipped inside.
Ron followed him and pulled the door shut behind him. When he turned around, his jaw dropped.
He'd been in barns before during many of his and Kim's adventures, and they'd all shared some common traits: Dirt floor, lots of hay, tools, equipment, farm machinery in some cases, etc, etc.
The only trait that this barn shared was the farm equipment. Everything else was wither concrete or metal, and there was other machinery that Ron was pretty sure had nothing to do with farming whatsoever.
"Huh." Ron said, looking around at his surroundings. "I'm no farmer, but I don't think that this is a normal barn."
Next to him Naota nodded. "Yeah." he said. "You know supervillains. Is this like what you'd see in their lairs?" he asked.
Now it was Ron's turn to nod. "Yeah." he said. "This is classic supervillain, right out of the Hench Co catalog."
"They have a catalog?" Naota asked, looking at Ron.
"Yeah." answered Ron. "Where do you think they get most of their gear? There's a whole cottage industry devoted to them. Gear, goons, lairs, you name it."
"Huh." Naota said. "I wonder what the going rate for jobs is..." he mused.
"You want to work for them?" Ron asked, a little incredulous. "Why?"
Naota shrugged at him. "We're ninja." he replied. "We gotta eat."
Ron shook his head and looked around at their surroundings again. "Anyways, thee base is underground, so there should be a way in there around here somewhere..."
"What about the air vents?" Naota asked, pointing at a grate.
Ron looked at the grate and thought for a second. "No." he said, shaking his head. "Me and KP used that trick a lot, and from all indications Blue Boy has really been using his brain lately, and he's probably got countermeasures in there."
"So, lets look for a hatch or something." Naota said and held up the EFM
Oo000oo000oO
They quickly located a hatch, but they then had to spend twenty minutes disabling the security on it. Once they had that done, they got it open and found it opened on a small tunnel, just barely big enough for Ron to stand in and lined with pipes.
"Here." Naota said, handing Ron the EFM. "I'll go in first."
"Shouldn't that be the other way?" Ron asked as he took the EFM. "I'm bigger than you, and would be able to shield you."
"I'm better equipped for any surprise encounters." Naota explained as he drew his pistol and it's suppressor. "No offense, but in situations like this a suppressed pistol beats out almost anything..."
Ron merely grunted indifferently as Naota screwed the thread protector off the muzzle of his pistol and screwed the suppressor on. Clicking a switch on the large box hanging off the underside of the pistol, a flash light came on and then he leaned down into the tunnel and swept it for threats.
Nodding to Ron, he dropped down into it and Ron followed, closing the hatch after them.
Oo000oo000oO
Keeping their weight balanced on the edges of their feet, rolling their steps, Ron and Naota carefully padded down the tunnel. As they neared what looked like the end of the tunnel, Naota suddenly froze and snapped his pistol up into a ready position.
Behind Naota Ron heard what had made his partner freeze: Footsteps.
Looking around, he saw an alcove where the pipes turned into, just big enough for him to squeeze into with an identical one on the opposite of the tunnel. Tapping Naota on the shoulder, he pointed to the alcoves.
Naota nodded, tapped himself on the chest and pointed at the alcove on the left. Ron nodded in understanding and slipped into the right alcove while Naota slipped into the other one.
Hiding in their individual alcoves, they listened as the footsteps came closer and closer to their locations. When whoever was making the footsteps was almost on top of them Naota swung out of his alcove as he brought his pistol up and fired two shots in one smooth motion.
The gunshots were muffled into two loud thuds that mixed with the sound of a body crumpling onto the ground.
For the second time in his life, Ron was witness to the death of a human being. His heat beat thudding in his ears, he swallowed his fear and looked out into the tunnel. And his stomach twisted up into knots.
Lying on the ground in front of him was Kim. For a few seconds he was back at the lair, his failure right in front of him. Then someone slugged him in the side and reality came snapping back.
In a stupor, Ron looked over and saw Naota looking at him. "It's not her." he said.
"What?" Ron asked, forgetting that Naota didn't speak English.
"It's not her." Naota repeated, saying the words slower and more distinctly to get through Ron's shock.
It worked. Ron shook his head, and looked back at the corpse at their feet. He remembered that this wasn't Kim.
It was her clone.
Who had murdered a security guard and a mother, and wounded a cop.
Who was made by the man who had killed Kim.
Who was somewhere in this base.
Ron's face hardened and he looked at Naota. "You're right." he said. "It's just a clone. Lets go. We've got to kill the sonofabitch who did this."
Naota nodded and holstered his pistol. "Right." he said. "But first there's something that I got to do..."
"What's that?" Ron asked.
"Her equipment." Naota explained as he crouched down and began stripping the clone's corpse. "She's not going to be needing it, and I'd like something better than a handgun."
Ron grunted in acknowledgment.
Oo000oo000oO
At the end of the tunnel was a small room with a short passage branching off of it. At the end of the passage was a large room filled with crates. Also in the room were three clones unpacking a couple of crates.
Crouching down behind a stack of crates Ron and Naota watched them as they worked.
"Options?" Ron whispered to Naota.
Naota pursed his lips in thought for several moments. Looking around at the room, he pondered the layout.
"I think we can sneak past them." he whispered. "Use the crates as cover and time our movements."
Ron thought about it for a moment. "Good idea." he said. "We're here to kill Drakken. That's our primary objective."
Naota nodded his agreement. "Right." he said. "Let's go."
Peeking out from the crates, they took stock of what the clones were doing and then seeing that they were currently occupied, moved off. Sneaking along, they moved from crate to crate, sneaking past the clones across the room to the only other exit.
They had made it a little over halfway across the room when a fourth clone that they hadn't known was in the room came around a stack of crates right in front of them.
Naota's reaction was faster than Ron's, lunging at her and taking her down with a leg sweep, followed by a knife hand to her throat with a knife to the aorta. All of this was done almost silently. Tugging his knife free, he sheathed it and started to pick up the body when he heard a slight gurgling noise.
He whirled around to see a Kim clone standing with her face a mask of shock and amazement, fifteen inches of glittering, folded, magical steel protruding from her throat. She moved her mouth up and down a couple of times trying to say something, then her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp as a noodle.
Ron kept hold of the blade and made sure that the body didn't make any noise as it collapsed. Pulling the blade free, he grabbed the body and dragged it to where it couldn't be seen. Grabbing the clone he had killed, Naota dragged it to where it wouldn't be spotted and then scuttled over to Ron.
"Alright." he whispered. "Change of plans. Those two are gonna notice that their friend hasn't came back any second now, so we gotta take care of them."
"How-?" Ron started to ask as Naota unslung his AK and clicked the selector switch up.
Ron's eyes went wide as he saw what Naota was doing. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "What about the noise?"
"Only option we've got." Naota whispered back calmly. "Besides, those are steel security doors. It'll muffle the sound trust me on this." he added before Ron could protest further.
Ron clamped his mouth shut as Naota peeked around the crate at the two clones.
"Hey." one of the clones said to the other. "Where's Seven?"
"What do you me-" the other clone started to say as Naota popped up from behind the crate he was using for cover.
It was over quicker than it took to tell; Naota double tapped the trigger twice, each clone catching a pair of steel cored 7.62x39mm M43 rounds to the head. Both clones dropped like puppets whose strings had been cut to the floor and Naota and Ron both stood up from where they hiding.
"Now what?" Ron asked as they started walking to where the bodies were.
"Well, now it looks like we have change the plans again.' Naota answered. "We're going to have to work a lot faster than we thought we going to."
"Great." Ron said as he looked at the two bodies.
"Oh, hello." Naota said.
"What?" Ron asked. "You finnd something?"
"Yeah." answered Naota. "A map." he added, holding up a piece of paper with the layout of what Ron assumed was the bast that they were in.
Ron studied the map for several seconds, then tapped the paper with his forefinger. "There." he said. "The labs. That's where the blue man will be."
"You sure?" Naota asked, looking at the map. "I'm seeing a lot of other likely places he could be."
"Trust me." Ron told him. "He'll be there."
Naota nodded, folded the map up and stuck it into a pocket. "Well, lets get going." he said. "It's not like he's going to kill himself."
Oo000oo000oO
Frowning, Sicarius looked at the clock. Things were behind schedule. The new batch of clones that she had sent to the storage room to unpack some equipment should have reported back by now-
Her train of thought was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. "Yes?" she asked when she picked up.
"Sicarius, have you seen Four?" asked Drakken from the other end.
"No." Sicarius answered. "Have you heard anything from the new clones?"
"No- shit!" Drakken swore. "We've been compromised."
"Are you sure?" Sicarius asked. "They could just be-"
"Trust me, this is something that I know very well." Drakken growled. "Quietly alert everyone who's still functioning and be ready to initiate plan "B"."
"Plan "B"?" Sicarius asked. "What's that?"
"You'll know when you activate it." Drakken said. "Go to that tunnel I showed you. In that locker is a pack with instructions. If the base explodes, take the pack, get clear, and follow the instructions. Clear?"
Sicarius nodded. "Yes, sir." she said. "I'm on it."
"Good." Drakken said. "Let's hope we don't need it." he added before hanging up.
Oo000oo000oO
Sneaking down a hall, Ron and Naota ducked into a closet just before a couple of clones walked by armed with AK 101's and wearing vests walked by.
"Well, crap." Ron said. "I think they just figured out that they got visitors."
Naota grunted slightly. "No alarm. Someone's using their head."
"Probably Drakken." Ron muttered. "Where are we?"
Naota took the map out of his pocket and unfolded it. "I figure that we're about five meters from the lab's." he said, studying the map. "But there's no way we're gonna be able to make it without those clones spotting us."
"So what do we do?" Ron asked. "If we take them out, the whole place will know where we are."
"At this point, I think that it's a given that we're going to blow our position." Naota pointed out. "So, let's do it this way: I'll take the clones out, and cover you while you go and deal with the monstrous Doctor" Naota pointed out. "You're the only one who really could, anyways."
Ron had to agree with the kids point. "True." he said. "Wait until they pass the door again?"
Naota nodded. "Yeah." he said and folded the map back up.
Oo000oo000oO
Sicarius Two and Three point Four were coming back after having swept the hallway in front of the labs when they heard the slight squeak of hinges and swish of air being displaced from a door being yanked open.
They had just indexed their firearms and were turning to meet the threat when there was muffled thump and the back of Point Four's head exploded like a melon. Two had just registered something wet hitting her in the face when a second round caught her just under the left eye.
Both bodies were collapsing to the floor as Ron came out of the closet and turned left, heading for the labs. Naota was half a heart beat behind him, holstering his pistol. By the time both bodies had hit the floor Naota had holstered his sidearm and was transitioning to his longarm while Ron had drawn the Lotus Blade and had it low and to the side as he dashed down the hall.
Ron was half way to the lab when at the far oppisite end of the hallway a clone came around the corner, holding her rifle at her hip. Naota already had his up and ready. Shifting it slightly, he dropped the sights to just above her vest and pulled the trigger, firing a three round burst just like he'd trained. The first round went low and caught her in the chest plate. The muzzle jerked upwards, causing the second round to hit her in the neck and the third round hit her in the face, just inside the orbit of her right eye.
Red mist puffed up around her as she started to collapse as Naota released the trigger. A second clone was right behind her, skidding as she tried to reverse course and get to cover as Naota recovered from the burst and resighted.
Behind him, Ron was almost to the door as he fired another burst at the second clone, missing her and pulverizing chunks of the wall as she ducked into cover behind the corner. Naota was already moving as she disappeared behind the corner, angling for an open doorway a few feet away.
Naota had already memorized the map of the base, so he knew that the door he was heading for lead to a pair of inter connected rooms that could enable him to sweep around and flank the clone at the corner- assuming, of course, that there were no other clones in the rooms or in the hallway.
As he crossed the threshold of the door he heard the bang of a door being kicked open, which meant that Ron had reached the labs. Crossing into the room, there was a long burst of AK fire that hosed the hallway but did little else.
Pulse pounding, he swept the room for threats and headed for the inter connecting door.
Oo000oo000oO
When Drakken had heard the burst of gun fire in the hallway he had leapt out of his chair and spun to face the doorway, and was about to start transforming when the doors had splintered open as a figure in black and khaki came bursting in.
He froze for an instant when he saw who the figure was.
"Stoppable." he said, surprise evident in his voice, then he scowled. "Of course you survived. I suppose that green cunt survived too."
Stoppable said nothing, and merely raised a katana into a ready position as his eyes flashed yellow.
"So that's how you want to play it." Drakken stated, a grin forming across his face. "So be it." he added as his features began to shift.
Stoppable merely narrowed his eyes as they began to glow blue-
Oo000oo000oO
Rocking the fresh magazine into place, One racked the bolt on her rifle and reshouldered it just she heard the pounding of footsteps in the hall. Taking a breath, she swung out and squeezed the trigger, realizing what her target was a half second too late as the sights dropped onto one of her fellow clones.
Most of the rounds either missed or hit the clone's trauma plate, but two caught her in the shoulder and a third clipped her in the neck. One watched her collapse in shock, not noticing as a door opened somewhere behind her.
Oo000oo000oO
As he swung the door open, Naota saw the clone just standing there in front of him, seeming not noticing that he was there. So he just raised his rifle and double tapped her in the head.
Exiting out the door, he swung his rifle around as another clone came running around another corner further down the hall, her weapon not even up. He shot her in the head with a three round burst and ducked back into the room as he heard more footsteps pounding towards his location.
Oo000oo000oO
The last bits of his clothes fell away as Drakken finished transforming. In front of him, Stoppable had changed his stance slightly, but he hadn't transformed like Drakken had figured that he was going to do. Instead, he was covered by a blue glow and unearthly howls and shrieks were coming from everywhere and nowhere, seemingly all around him.
"Okay, he's not transforming." thought Drakken. "No matter. I'll just kill him and then go find that green bitch and kill her too."
Flexing his muscles with a growl, Drakken began to circle to Ron's left. Ron began to counter his move, not allowing the werewolf to flank him.
Drakken wanted to ask the blond where Shego was, but opted not to, instead opting to focusing is attention on his opponent and looking for an opening. He remembered the last time that they had fought, and the kid was surprisingly good, which explained why the henchmen had always seemed to have trouble with him.
And from the way he held that sword he knew how to use it, too.
As they circled each other, more gunfire sounded out in the hall, along with some clones screaming. Who was winning in the firefight outside was anyone's guess, because the two in the lab were focused exclusively on each other.
Drakken saw Stoppable's eyes narrow slightly, and he took that as his cue to attack, lunging at the blond, tooth filled maw opened wide.
Oo000oo000oO
The world seemed to be moving at quarter speed for Ron as Drakken lazily launched himself at him. In the back of his mind, he was dimly aware that wasn't the case, it was just his perception, but that wasn't important right now.
As the snarling werewolf came at him, Ron lazily stepped his left foot forward as he dropped the sword back and down in preparation for his swing. Drakken closed to withing striking distance, he swung, bringing the sword up and and across his body in a high arc, catching him right at the base of the neck.
The mystical blade sliced through flesh, muscle sinew, and bone with ease, cleaving his head clean off. As he followed through with the swing, Ron brought his right forearm up and into the body, shifting it's trajectory and sending it flying into the corner, the weight and momentum mattering not a whit to him.
As the body went flying time sped back up and reality reasserted itself as Drakken's headless body crashed into a bank of equipment.
For a long second, Ron stood there, sword at the ready, not quite understanding what had happened. Then he shook his head and relaxed his stance slightly as the realization that he had just killed Drakken flooded him.
"Ron?"
When Naota called his name Ron snapped the blade up for a second. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Are you okay?" inquired Naota.
"I'm fine." answered Ron. "How about you?" he asked.
"I'm fine." Naota told him. "How's the Doctor?"
Ron looked at the severed head of Drakken where it had rolled up against a cart. "He's dead." he answered.
"Good." Naota said as footsteps started coming closer in the hall. "I'm coming in."
Ron relaxed his stance and sheathed his sword as Naota stepped into the room. He stopped and looked at the two halves of Drakken. "Yeah, he's dead." he said, and pulled a plastic bag from a pocket.
"What about the clones?" Ron asked as Naota opened the bag up and walked over to where Drakken's head was.
"I think that I may have gotten them all." Naota said as he picked up Drakken's head. "Man, this thing's heavy..." he muttered as he stuffed it into the bag.
"You think you got them all?" Ron asked as Naota closed the bag.
The boy shrugged. "I don't know.' he explained. "All I know is that they're not attacking us anymore."
Ron sighed as Naota slung the bag over his shoulder. "So, we'd sweep the whole place to make sure?" he asked.
Naota nodded. "Pretty much." he said.
Ron suddenly felt very, very, tired. "Or we could just blow the place up." he said, his gaze falling on a large control panel with a very familiar button on it.
Naota followed his gaze to the control panel. "Or we could do that." he said. "Either way works for me."
Ron headed for the control panel.
Oo000oo000oO
Fifteen minutes later, Ron and Naota were standing in the wheat fields a safe distance away, watching as the first of the self destruct charges went off, rending the earth and sending smoke and flames into the air.
The rest of the charges followed immediately after, and soon nothing was left of the farm buildings but blazing rubble.
"Okay." Ron said as he stretched. "I think that we're done here."
"I agree." Naota said. "Let's go home."
"Lets." Ron said,
Turning their backs on the blazing ruins of the farm, they started walking.
Oo000oo000oO
Two miles to the east, a hidden hatch opened up in the side of ditch and Sicarius crawled out, pulling a bag after her. Clambering to her feet, she looked to the west where she could see a plume of black smoke billowing up into the sky.
She looked at the plume for a moment, then shouldered the bag and started walking. She had her orders to carry out and there was no sense dawdling.
Oo000oo000oO
End.
Authors note: And now we approach the end of the series. But don't worry- there's one more chapter after this one, where the next series is going to get set up.
Zombie Boy.