Chapter 4: Racing the clock
'Some birthday this turned out to be,' Kim thought to herself. It had been her fault that Cap hadn't paid attention. She had pestered her boyfriend to tell her where they were going even though he had told her it was supposed to be a surprise. Because of this they had ended up getting caught. Kim knew what Cap would've said if she had told him. He would not blame her for this at all, probably telling her it might have happened regardless. It was true that the attack had happened without warning, but she knew she really should learn some patience already. If only to prevent something like this from happening again.
Kim wasn't worried for herself right now, though. Cap had ended up getting the short end of the stick. He had put himself on the line to save her. The brunette didn't know what she would do if her boyfriend paid for it with his life. If Blight ended up killing her too, at least she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life, however long it was, alone.
She was tempted to reach out to him and ask how he was doing, but wasn't sure if that was wise.
Cap didn't know how long it had been since Blight's last visit. The villain had checked on him at least twice by now to see if she could get a hold of his blood. Every time she had tried, the superhero had prevented it so Blight couldn't leave a mark on him. After she had left the smog had been followed by some other gases, one after another. Briefly he wondered where Blight had managed to get a hold of so many. The superhero didn't bother identifying them. It was enough for him that they were something that weakened him, slowly but surely. Not to mention the effort it took to try and prevent Blight from getting at his blood. If he had been at full power, it would've been easy. He found himself wondering why there was no toxic waste or toxic oil or anything like that. The answer was simple: they would do the job faster. Apparently the doctor wasn't in any hurry and she also did enjoy seeing others suffer.
Cap coughed, grimacing as this hurt his throat. At least there wasn't any pesticides among the gases. Yet. Their effect he would've recognized. He could practically taste some of them on his tongue. The superhero would have liked to rinse his mouth with something to get rid of the foul taste. He knew Blight would not do such a favor for him if he asked so didn't bother. The gases also made his eyes water and he could only blink in an effort to be able to see again, since his arms were unavailable for wiping the moisture away.
He was glad they were not in Antarctica this time. Kim would surely have frozen to death by now. And he wouldn't have been able to do anything to help her.
Antarctica… Unbidden, a memory surfaced of the time Blight had captured him with Nukem. Would the mutant make an appearance this time, too? When Cap had had the chance to have a brief look around while being taken to his cell, he hadn't seen the protective suit she had used back then. So did that mean she was working solo? If she was, that was a relief to know. Again, the eco-hero wasn't worried for himself. Radiation poisoning wasn't something he wanted Kim to experience, not to mention the slow wasting away that would follow. Just the mere thought of that horrified him.
Cap couldn't help groaning. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay standing, tempted to just hang there and not waste the energy he had left. It was getting harder and harder to resist. But there was someone he had promised to stay strong and he would do everything he could to keep that promise.
'Blue?' Kim had had to give in, being of two minds about this for a long time. She just had had to check on him.
Speak of the devil. Cap's head snapped up at the familiar voice. "Still here, love," he replied, trying to find a more comfortable position, making the chains that were attached to his restraints rattle. Standing up with your arms above your head wasn't that easy, especially if you couldn't put them down once in a while. The only times that had happened was when Blight had paid him a visit and even then only one of his arms had been relieved of the tension. For a short time.
'How are you holding up?' Kim wanted to know. There was relief and worry mixed in. Cap could feel the woman's love surround him, acting as a crutch. It would help him bear the punishment for a while longer. How much longer, he didn't know.
"Hanging in there," he told her. How long until it would become literal? "Has Blight left you alone?"
'I don't care about Blight,' the woman said firmly. 'I only care about you right now."
"Does that mean you're unharmed?" Cap persisted.
'I'm fine,' was the short reply, her tone telling him that was the end of it. There was a pause. 'Remember what you promised me, superhero of mine?' Kim asked. 'That you would not give up. DO NOT let her win.'
Did she know he was struggling? Well, plenty of time had passed since he had been brought into this room and his girlfriend didn't have any illusions of him being able to resist forever.
"I won't, I promise you that," he told her. It was becoming more and more difficult because of the gases that were sapping his strength. "But I gotta tell ya it's anything but easy."
Kim would have wanted to give him a power boost if she had been able to. The brunette wasn't empathic like he was but a strong mental connection had formed between them over the years, almost as strong a connection as the superhero had with the Planeteers. Love was a strong bond. But it couldn't perform miracles.
'You are Earth's champion, aren't you?' she reminded him. 'Haven't you been through worse than this?'
His girlfriend had always believed in him, even when his own belief had faltered. But he had never been in a situation where he was surrounded by more than one gas for a prolonged period of time. Blight had kept him in something she had called a "smog bath" once but now there was more than smog involved.
'Looks like she's going to pay you a visit,' the brunette informed him out of the blue. She was obviously close enough to his cell to see that. Or had a clear view to the door. The room was indeed clearing of the gases, leaving only some of the smog lingering in the air. There was small window in the door but the eco-hero hadn't bothered to check how much he could see through it.
"Thanks for the heads-up," Cap said, standing up a little straighter and preparing himself for whatever Blight wanted. She was most probably coming to see if she could finally collect his blood to use in her demented schemes. Even though he was weak, he wasn't in so much discomfort as before. That did not mean he wasn't hurting.
If they survived this ordeal, the eco-hero decided he would take his girlfriend where he had intended to take her for her birthday in the first place. Or anywhere she wanted to go. If she still did. But only after he had had a good recharge.
The door of his cell opened and Blight walked in. She seemed to be surprised that he was still on his feet. "Too stubborn to know when you're beaten?"
Cap grinned. "Maybe I'm tougher than you think." He couldn't stop the cough that escaped, though.
"We'll see about that,"Blight said, eyeing him.
With a push of a button from her ever-present remote, the other shackle slackened, leaving only his other arm above his head. The superhero couldn't help staggering a little before finding his balance again.
'Tougher, my foot,' she thought. 'The fool's clearly almost had it.' The scientist was sure he had only tried to save his own hide when he had told her that his blood was useless to her if he died. So when that happened she could get as much of his blood as she wanted.
He knew what would happen and willed his skin to harden a bit more, hoping it was enough. And it was. The eco-hero was pleased to know that he had succeeded in foiling the villain's attempts to get her hands on his blood for the third time. So far. Cap knew Blight wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted or he was dead. Who knew if she would try to get at her prize even after that, not having believed what he had told her earlier.
Clearly frustrated, Blight returned his other shackle the way it had been and left, yanking the superhero's arm back up so fast he couldn't help grimacing, slamming the door shut after herself. Almost as soon as the door of his cell closed, Cap sighed in relief. This also caused him to inhale some of the gas and try as he might, couldn't stop the cough that was the result.
Trying to catch his breath, Cap could hear the scientist venting at MAL, although he couldn't make out the words. The superhero gave a laugh which sounded more like a croak than a laugh.
'I don't think I can take much more of this,' the eco-hero thought. But for the sake of his girlfriend he would try.
As luck would have it, the smog thickened again, joined shortly with other gases. It might have been his imagination but there seemed to be something new mixed in. Gritting his teeth, Cap held on to what strength he had left. If something more was still added to the mix, he knew he definitely wouldn't last much longer. Who knew there would be so many dangerous gases out there?
He kept his eyes trained to the door, straining his ears to hear anything that meant the Planeteers had arrived. He could hear nothing but Blight.
The eco-hero knew he was getting very, very low on power. He had had plenty of experience about similar situations not to know. To save his strength, Cap let himself hang there like a wet rag. He couldn't feel his arms anymore, saving him from the discomfort this caused. The metal groaned under his weight, the density of his body he was trying to maintain making him quite heavy, but didn't give out.
How many times would the doc try before she gave up or the Planeteers showed up? The superhero hadn't given up hope that the five would arrive and get him and Kim out of this place.
Cap's eyelids felt so heavy he could hardly keep his eyes open. He mustered up the shreds of his strength and his willpower both to prevent losing consciousness.
"Hurry, Planeteers."
Ma-Ti heard the superhero's silent plea. The Heart Planeteer hoped he would hold on until they got there. Ever since they had found out the location of Blight's hideout, they had made a beeline for the place.
"What is our ETA to Blight's hideout?" the Kayapo asked Wheeler.
The redhead checked the plane's the instruments. "At this speed, ETA is approximately 45 minutes." Wheeler looked at the youngest member of the team. "I think I can squeeze a little more out of her, though."
Ma-Ti simply nodded, knowing time was of the essence.
Listening to Blight's ranting, Kim smiled. She was proud of the superhero for being able not to let the villain have her way. Even though he was weak.
The villain noticed the brunette's smile. "What are you smiling about?" she snapped. "Even if I haven't gotten any of his blood yet, it won't be long until I will."
"He won't let you have any of it, believe me," Kim told her firmly.
Blight smirked. "Really? It looked to me he won't be able to prevent that for much longer." She was pleased to see the woman's eyes widen.
Kim wasn't sure if the villain was bluffing or not. She didn't dare reach out to him again to check though, even if she wanted to, not wanting him to use up the little power he had left. He needed it. 'Where are you, Planeteers?' she wondered, biting her lip, looking at the door behind which her boyfriend was imprisoned. 'Please, hold on, honey.'
Later, when Blight came out of the superhero's cell after another fruitless visit MAL informed her she was running low on stuff to use on the superhero. "Seems you underestimated him. Again."
Appearing not to listen, Kim smiled when she heard that.
"You don't have to tell me something I already know," the doctor snapped. Many times he had seemed to be on the brink of giving up but now she realized she had been way too gentle with him. Well, no more. It was time to up the ante. "Keep an eye on her," Blight told the AI, even though she knew the woman wouldn't be able to escape. Once she was done with Captain Planet, the scientist had to figure out what to do with his girl.
Without waiting for MAL's reply, she marched out of the hideout and aboard her ship, taking off.
MAL had been debating with himself if he should tell Dr. Blight about what he had found while analyzing the blood sample that had been taken from their captive. What would she do with the knowledge if he did tell her? Knowing her, nothing good.
The AI was curious to know did the brunette know about it. Not sure why, he decided to tell her, doing it in such a way that he wouldn't need to tell the doctor anything about sharing information with a captive. Information that he felt the woman needed to know. If she didn't already.
MAL caught Kim's attention. "What do you want?" she asked, not really wanting to talk to him.
"To talk about what I found in that blood sample of yours," the computer told her.
Why? She was sure she already knew all there was to know about what was in it. "Leave me alone."
"Leave the two of you alone, you mean?" MAL asked.
Kim looked at the screen with a frown. Had the computer blown a fuse? "Are you seeing double? There's only one of me in here."
Either she was bluffing or she really hadn't known. "There soon will be two of you," MAL told her. "In about 9 months, that is." If that wasn't a clear enough clue, nothing was.
The woman stared at the computer. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? But Kim couldn't ask the computer anything further because he started making strange noises and then the screen showed only static.
Not long after that faint footstep could be heard from the corridor that led inside from the entrance. Five people the brunette recognized stopped at the mouth of it. Kim came to the bars, a smile lighting her face, relief flooding through her and told them it was safe to come in with a thumbs up.
"Planeteers! Thank goodness!" When she was asked if she had any idea how to get her out of the cell since there clearly wasn't any buttons to do so, the brunette sobered. "I can wait. Go and help Blue first." The brunette pointed at the door in the back. "Hurry!" she exclaimed, watching her friends run to the door.
It opened easily. Apparently Blight hadn't bothered to install a lock on it, so sure the superhero wouldn't be able to escape. Some of the smog drifted out, making the group gag so they had no choice but to close it again. The room had been so thick with what was in there that they hadn't been able to see a thing inside.
"We have to clear the room of the gases first," Kwame stated, coughing.
"How do we do that?" Wheeler wondered.
"Look for a remote!" Kim called from her cell, hoping Doctor Demented hadn't taken it with her. She also hoped her boyfriend could hold on just a little longer, no idea how he was faring at the moment. She was worried sick.
The hunt for the remote was successful and once they had it figured out, the room began clearing of the stuff that prevented anything to be seen inside from the outside.
"Come on, come on," could be heard from every Planeteer's mouth. They were as anxious as Kim was to get to the superhero and get him out. Despite having more experience about this than she did, situations like this were never easy.
Once it was determined it had cleared enough, the door was opened again. The superhero hanging there, totally limp, held up only by the shackles around his wrists, made them gasp. Alas, the restraints were too high for any of them to reach. Kwame, who had the remote, looked at it and looked for a button that had something to do with the restraints. Finding one, he pushed it.
The shackles opened with a click and Cap fell down onto the floor in a heap, an involuntary gasp coming from him as he hit the floor. He didn't move at all after that. But it did the trick and helped him become aware that something was happening. There was no outward sign of this, though.
Kim heard the thud and wanted to get out "right now". A push of a button later she ran to Cap's cell where the others were just turning him over onto his back. The superhero was heavy and limp. When the woman saw him lying prone on the floor, she gasped. Unbidden, she recalled her nightmare in which she had found him, dead.
'Please, don't let it be too late,' the woman begged of no one in particular, hoping the dream hadn't been a sign of things to come. "Blue?" she called, stroking his hair.
The superhero was faintly aware of her voice. He knew there was only one person who called him by that name. It might have been his imagination but he could have sworn he felt the Planeteers being close. Had he heard their voices earlier?
"Please, honey," the familiar voice of his girlfriend begged, his limp hand in hers. "Open your eyes."
It sounded like she was crying or close to it. But try as he might, Cap couldn't seem to fight his way back and open his eyes. He was simply too weak.
"Come on, Cap," a voice the superhero recognized as Gi's encouraged him from beside her friend. "Wake up." The others' voices joined in, as well. He hadn't imagined it, then. It had never been this difficult before to open his eyes.
'I won't lose him now, especially after what MAL just told me,' Kim thought. She would go and see a doctor to confirm it, not trusting the word of Dr. Blight's computer. The brunette leaned down and kissed her boyfriend. "Don't you dare die on me, you hear?" she told him in a low voice, her words meant only for him. "You don't want me to raise junior on my own, do you?"
Hearing that was a shock to Cap, understanding what his girlfriend meant and it gave him the push to struggle back into the conscious world even harder. It felt like climbing up from a very deep well. Finally he took a breath and started to cough. Once the fit subsided he slowly opened his eyes. He could barely keep them open. His arms tingled all over thanks to the uncomfortable position they had been in for such a long time. And he couldn't even shake the numbness out of them thanks to his weakened state.
"Glad to have you with us again," Wheeler commented. The superhero just smiled a little, not sure if he could get a word out without coughing again. His throat felt bad enough already.
Kim put her hand against his cheek, tears running down her cheeks. She ignored them. "Hey. I thought I'd lost you."
"Never," Cap croaked. "What did you…?" he began, wanting confirmation. Had he heard correctly?
The brunette put a finger to his lips before he got any further. "Hush. That can wait for later. Go and get your strength back. You look like you need it."
Cap was sure he looked better than he felt. 'She's right,' the superhero thought. 'On both counts.' But before he left he had to know one thing first. "Did Blight…" The superhero paused, grimacing. "Did Blight… get any?" He had done his very best to prevent that from happening but wasn't sure if he had succeeded. The hero wasn't even sure if the villain had paid him a visit after the last one.
Kim thought back to all the times the villain had come out of this room. She was sure that if Blight had succeeded she would've gloated about it and that hadn't happened. "I don't think so." How he had been able to prevent that while enduring everything Blight had thrown at him, was beyond her. They would search the place before they left, though, just in case.
This seemed to satisfy Cap. He closed his eyes for a moment, relieved. He looked at Kim again and managed another smile. "See you… at home, my love." She nodded with a smile. "The power is… yours…" The last word was just a sigh. The superhero made his exit and the powers zoomed back into the rings.
"Blight's gonna have a fit when she gets back," the Fire Planeteer said with a grin. "Where'd she go, anyway?"
"MAL informed her the nasty stuff she had for Blue was running low," Kim told him. "Seems she underestimated how much she'd need." She turned to look at the computer. "Is that thing really out of commission? He won't be able to restart, or anything?"
"Nothing short of a reboot is not going to work," Linka stated confidently. "Lucky Blight has not installed an antivirus program."
Kim was relieved to hear that. "You mean he could've lost the data concerning our capture and everything to do with it?"
The blonde seemed uncertain. "Of that I am not sure but it is possible. Depends how recent her backup is."
"If she has one," Kwame commented.
"Great job, babe," Wheeler congratulated the blonde and attempted to kiss her but the Russian told him now was the time for such things. There was ample time for that when they got back home.
"What was this all about?" Kwame wanted to know. "Why did Dr. Blight capture you two?"
Kim told them the whole story, just leaving out the stuff MAL had told her before the Planeteers had arrived. The blood the doctor had taken from Kim was found and disposed of effectively by Wheeler and his ring. An additional search proved that there were no more to be found, hers or otherwise.
"Something good came out of this too, then," Ma-Ti said. "Who knows when you would have found out about the side-effect his blood had if Dr. Blight had not captured you." The South American figured something like that would be hard not to notice.
'That's not the only thing I found out,' she thought, wondering why the computer hadn't told Blight about it. If it was true, that is. "I guess you're right. But I'm still the same person despite that." She didn't want to be treated any differently just because of what the superhero's blood had done to her, prolonging her life.
"Despite what?" Gi asked with a grin. As far as she was concerned, nothing had changed. Besides, nobody had known there would such a side-effect.
Kim smiled at that. "We managed to stop her now," she said. "But what if she's gonna try again?" The brunette would've rather not go through this again if she could help it.
"First she is going to have to fix her computer," Kwame stated. And without anything to get rid of the virus, that could take a while.
"Some birthday, huh?" Gi commented as they headed for the Geo-Cruiser, a hand on her friend's shoulder.
Kim rolled her eyes. "You can say that again." Even though she and Cap hadn't been able to celebrate it like they had planned to, her best present was that her boyfriend was alive and well.
The six of them got aboard the plane and set a course for home.
When Blight returned the first thing she noticed was the open door of the superhero's cell, noting Kim's empty cell with only mild interest. She went to check if the room really was empty. Maybe the door had just opened on its own… But there was nobody in there. All that was found was the remote on the floor.
"MAL! How could you let him escape?" the doctor demanded.
There was no answer and she realized the AI hadn't greeted her like he usually did. MAL's static filled screen was the only thing that stared back at her.
"MAL, sweetums? What have they done to you?" The villain had a pretty good idea of who "they" were. How had they found this place?
The computer stayed silent, the screen unchanging. It didn't help any to push any buttons. "I hate those Planetpains!" Blight yelled in frustration at no one in particular, throwing the remote she had in her hand as far as she could, not caring if she ended up breaking it.