Ch. 7: Resurrection
Previously on Inspector Gadget Reboot
"Well there's one way to take of that babbling of yours and that's to pull your Neural Wave Amplifier."
"Yeah, that would work. But you wouldn't really do that would you? Then you'd also be under arrest for the murder of a police officer."
"I killed John Ramirez and I nearly killed you. I have no problem with finishing the job."
At that point I'm sure that a hint of fear flashed in my eyes. Up to then the only thing I had felt was hatred for this particular individual.
"Sayonara, Inspector Gadget," Xavier stated as he pulled out my Neural Wave Amplifier with his mechanical hand.
WARNING!
CATASTROPHIC POWER LOSS
SYSTEM SHUT DOWN IN 5 SECONDS
4 SECONDS
3 SECONDS
2 SECONDS
1 SECOND
COMMENCING SYSTEM SHUT DOWN_
My head slumped to one side, my eyes went dim and the indicator lights in my body went out as my systems shut down for the last time.
"And thus ends the short career of Inspector Gadget. Good bye computer chip," Xavier said as he crushed my Neural Wave Amplifier before taking a cell phone out of his pocket. "Robo-Gadget, the inspector has been taken care of. Destroy the city."
"You got it boss."
"Hammer, take this out mode to the city dump where he belongs," he ordered indicating me. "We send the orders out tomorrow night."
Things could not have been worse for UniTech CEO Calvin King. The company's most expensive, and successful, project had gone on a monumental crime spree. In the space of a few hours Inspector Gadget had gone from being Detroit's greatest crime fighter to being Detroit's most wanted criminal. It was a disaster. Their stock had been at an all time high and had suddenly dropped to an all time low. The inspector had to be terminated. It was going to sting as I had cost the company five hundred million dollars. But it had to be done. I was a menace now and there was still a chance for the stock to rise again if the company was seen doing the right thing. Mr. King activated the computer terminal built into his desk and activated the retina scan.
PREPARE FOR RETINA SCAN
3…
2…
1…
RETINA SCAN MATCHED TO UNITECH CEO
ACCESS GRANTED
Mr. King took out a micro disc and inserted it into a slot.
CYBORG FAILSAFE OPTIONS
DIRECT COMLINK
SYSTEMS ACCESS
WEAPONS ACCESS
ALTER PROGRAMMING
TERMINATE
YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TERMINATION COMMAND.
DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED?
-YES -NO
Mr. King's finger hovered over the enter key before punching down on the key.
UNABLE TO EXECUTE COMMAND
SAT-NET SIGNAL LOST
"What the…"
"Mr. King!" exclaimed Taylor as she, Jay, and Shelby burst into the office. "Whatever you do don't activate Gadget's termination command!"
"Listen to her sir," added Jay. "We have reason to believe that the real Gadget has been replaced by a drone from Ion Technologies. If you activate that command then you're killing the only one who can save the city!"
"Well if you'd let me get a word in edge wise then I'd tell you that I can't activate the sequence because the sat-net signal has been lost."
"What?" both Taylor and Jay exclaimed at the same time.
"That's not possible," muttered Jay. "How's that possible?"
"What does that mean, the signal's been lost?" Shelby inquired.
"It means that we're too late," Jay answered. "Xavier's pulled out his Neural Wave Amplifier. He's dead and we have no way to track him now."
"Actually, we do," amended Taylor. "The active signal has been lost but there's still a passive signal emanating from him that we can use to pinpoint his location. It activates whenever there's a serious loss of power."
As she said this she had walked over to Mr. King's computer and had begun typing furiously.
Shelby perked up at this and the hope leaked into her voice. "You mean we might be able to save him?"
"Possibly, but don't get your hopes up," Taylor admonished.
"Why?"
"Jay, could you please explain?"
"Sure," Jay agreed with a heavy sigh. "You see Shelby, David lost his power source which means that he had a complete system shutdown. Now when we find him we might be able to restart the systems and they might return to normal but the man may have been erased."
"No, that can't happen! It can't! I just got him back and I will not lose him again!"
"I'm sorry Shelby, I really am. But there's nothing we can do. It's out of our control."
"I found his signal!" exclaimed Taylor suddenly. "But before we go off to find him we're going to need a few things. Mr. King, where's the prototype Wave Amplifier?"
"It was moved to the vault. Your old security passwords should still be valid. If you're right about all this then Xavier has a lot to answer for. Good luck."
"Thank you Mr. King. We're going to need it."
"You have got to be kidding me," Shelby said.
The trio had been tracking my signal for the past thirty-five minutes and had just pulled up outside the junkyard on the city outskirts.
"Xavier had David brought here? Are you sure we have the right signal?"
"There is no error Ms. Lutton," Gadgetmobile answered. "The frequency is in my data banks."
"Well, forwards and onward," Jay said.
Back in downtown Detroit Robo-Gadget was till terrorizing the citizens who had fled onto the street. He had activated his extendo-legs and was stomping above the people and launching the occasional mini missile at the abandoned cars below. A black limo was parked nearby. The occupant watched as his creation wreaked havoc and destruction and smiled a sinister smile. No one could stop him. And those that tried would find out just how powerful his claw was.
'This drone will make me a fortune,' Xavier thought. 'With these I could take over the world.'
A nearby by car exploded in a big fireball and illuminated Xavier's smiling face like a horror monster's face in the moonlight. The effect made his grin all the more sinister.
"Aright," said Taylor as the trio got out of Gadgetmobile. "He should be somewhere within a few meters of here. Here are some trackers tuned to his signal. Spread out and start searching. Holler if you find him."
Shelby started climbing on top of the piles of refuse and waving her tracker around, hoping to find me soon. As she trudged through the junk the tracker started making louder beeping noises and she followed the signal until her weight on a slope caused a junk slide. Shelby was about to get back up when her hand brushed against something that felt like flesh. She froze and turned her head. She saw a human hand that was attached to a brown sleeve. She furiously started swiping the garbage away until she uncovered my face.
"I FOUND HIM!"
Shelby continued to dig me out of the trash and had me fully uncovered by the time Jay and Taylor got there.
"We were right," said Taylor as she kneeled down to examine my body. "The Neural Wave Amplifier is gone. Jay, get the prototype out and keep your fingers crossed. I have no idea if this will work."
Jay handed her the prototype Wave Amplifier and Taylor placed it in my chest cavity and rotated it until it clicked into place. Nothing happened.
"We're too late," Taylor breathed as she let out a sigh of defeat. "The prototype's not strong enough to revive him. We're going to have to take on Xavier on our own.
Shelby shed a tear as she looked at my body. She could see the extent to which my organic body parts had been replaced but she still felt a deep connection between us. She kneeled down next to me and planted a soft kiss on my strangely still warm lips.
"OK, I'm ready," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.
START UP
POWER ON
SYSTEM INITIALIZING
CONFIGURE SYSTEMS
COMMAND SYSTEMS
SET PARAMETERS
MEMORY SET
BIO SUSPENSION ONLINE
SYSTEM BUFFERS ONLINE
PERFORMING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC...
SYSTEM EFFICIENCY: 99%
SYSTEM ACTIVATED_
POWER LEVEL: 98%
There was a barely audible hum as my systems powered back on that Shelby heard. The few visible indicator lights on my body flickered back to life, though not as bright as before.
"Wait," Shelby said catching Jay and Taylor's attention.
"He's coming back, it works!" grinned Taylor.
My eyes finally opened and my vision swam into focus. The first thing I saw was Shelby's, Taylor's and Jay's smiling faces beaming down at me.
"Shelby? Jay? Taylor? W-where am I?"
"He hasn't lost his memory! He's still here!"
Shelby had a huge grin on her face and immediately embraced me in a hug that would have felt bone crushing to a normal human.
"I thought that I had lost you again!" she sobbed with relief. "Thank goodness you're alright."
"I probably won't be for long though," I said.
"What do you mean?" inquired Jay.
"Whatever you did to revive me, it works, but it's only a temporary fix. I'm at ninety-eight percent power and dropping."
"Then we don't have much time," Taylor realized. "We have to move now if we're to have a hope of stopping Xavier in time."
"Agreed, let's move!" I exclaimed and bolted into a sitting position. "Do you happen to have a clean change of clothes for me?"
"There's a spare set of clothes for you in the trunk," answered Taylor.
"Thanks," I smiled as I got the clean clothes out.
A minute later I had changed into the clean clothes and felt ready to take on Robo-Gadget and Xavier. It was time to make them pay for their transgressions, and it was going to be painful.
"Alright Gadgetmobile, it's time to really show us what you can do because I'm feeling the need for speed," I said as I activated the chase mode.
"If it's speed you want then you've got the right car," assured Gadgetmobile.
"Umm, exactly how fast can this car go?" asked Shelby.
"Gadgetmobile has a top speed of three hundred and fifty miles per hour," Taylor answered.
" Isn't that a little extreme?"
"Right now we need 'extreme'," I reminded her. "Now let's punch it!"
I rammed the gas pedal home and we took off in pursuit of one CEO and fake inspector.
"Where's Xavier?" I asked less than a minute into our pursuit.
"He's in his limo traveling east," answered Gadgetmobile as he pinpointed Xavier's location on the digital display.
"Right, don't lose him."
"You needn't worry inspector, our estimated time to overtake is just under one minute and thirty seconds."
"Great."
"Do you have a plan?" Jay questioned.
"Sort of. Before I tripped that alarm at IT I downloaded some files from the mainframe. Thankfully Xavier didn't erase them and they're still in my memory banks. I have a detailed schematic of the Series 100 Model 1-A Battle Drone so I should have an advantage if I get in a fight with Robo-Gadget. He's also made contracts with terrorists to supply them with his drones. He plans to ship them out tonight at midnight so we have to hurry. I'll take care of Xavier and Robo-Gadget while the rest of you get to IT Tower and find a way to halt the transport of those drones."
"Why do you have to face the two of them alone?" Shelby asked, her tone and facial expression clearly displaying her dislike of the plan.
"Xavier tried to kill me and his attempt resulted in me becoming what I am now, a cyborg. And then Robo-Gadget discredited me in front of the entire city. It's personnel," I said with a hint of steel in my voice.
"Xavier's limo is on our twelve, we're closing in fast," informed Gadgetmobile.
"Take over Gadgetmobile, when I give the signal, slow down."
"What are you going to do?" asked Shelby.
"I'm gonna make an arrest."
I opened the door and started to make my way onto the top of Gadgetmobile when Taylor grabbed my arm.
"Are you crazy?"
"Can you think of a better way? Besides, if I fall I'll be able to get back in the game," I snapped and yanked my arm away.
I climbed out onto the hood and managed to keep my gaze forward despite the wind whipping into my eyes.
"Now!"
Gadgetmobile hit the brakes a bit too quickly and I nearly slid off but managed to regain my footing. Xavier's limo was within reach and I leapt for it. I landed on the roof and grinned. It was time for some payback.
Inside the limo Xavier and Robo-Gadget had absolutely no idea that they were about to be paid by a visit by someone they thought to be dead. They were suddenly alerted when they heard a thump on the roof of the limo.
"What's going on up there?" exclaimed Xavier.
A second later my fist speared right through the roof and cut a clean square right that I pulled back like a sardine lid.
"Surprise suckers! You're under arrest for the murder of John Ramirez and the attempted murder of a police officer, Xavier. And you," I said turning my gaze to Robo-Gadget, "you are under arrest for impersonating an officer of the law. It's payback time and I'm going to enjoy-"
My sentence was cut off by a sudden and unexpected punch from Xavier with his mechanical hand. I tumbled off the limo and only managed to save myself by grabbing onto the rear bumper.
"Hammer! Gadget is on the bumper, shake him off!"
The limo started swerving all over the road. If it kept up then innocent people would be hurt. I started to pull myself back up to put an end to the reckless driving.
"I don't think so, inspector," Xavier said and pushed a button on the dash marked 'bumper.'
I was about to get a grip on the trunk lid when the bumper suddenly detached from the limo and sent me flying backwards. Thankfully Gadgetmobile was able to swerve out of the way and continue the chase.
"Gadget is out of the picture for now Hammer, now lose that police car!"
I was down but I was by no means out. I had staggered into the path of an oncoming motorcycle and activated my extendo-legs to get out of the way in time. I looked and saw the retreating form of Xavier's limo being chased by Gadgetmobile. My eyes narrowed and I calculated the time it would take to overtake them using my legs.
CALCULATING TIME TO OVERTAKE…
ESTIMATED TIME TO OVERTAKE: 12 SECONDS
That did it. If Xavier wanted to fight dirty then I wasn't going to be Mr. Nice Guy anymore. Time to get rough. I took a step, a little unsure of myself with this gadget but growing in confidence with every step I took. Soon I was at an all out run and closing the gap between myself and the limo. I took a final step and landed right back on the roof of the limo.
"Ready for round two gentlemen?" I asked as I activated my forearm laser gun.
But before I could fire the limo swerved and hit Gadgetmobile. I knew that everyone inside would be alright thanks the Gadgetmobile's special diamond fused alloy shell. It was causing a problem me, however, as I couldn't keep steady enough to stun Xavier or my evil duplicate. I had to resort to using my magnetic fingertips to stay on top of the car.
"Stay in the car boss, I'll take care of the inspector once and for all," assured Robo-Gadget as he got out through the hole I had made in the roof.
As the hole was behind me I didn't see Robo-Gadget until he grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me up.
"Say goodnight Gadget!" he said maliciously and took a swing that connected.
I went flying but managed to grab him by the ankle thanks to my extendo-arms and drag him off the limo with me.
"Hammer, lose that police car and get back to IT Tower right now! We have to beat Gadget's friends there because he'll have thought to wend them there to stop the shipments!"
Hammer took a hard right at the next intersection and Gadgetmobile couldn't turn in time.
"Damn, we lost them!" exclaimed Taylor. "Get a fix on their location right now!"
"Already on it doctor," Gadgetmobile answered.
"What about David?" Shelby asked.
"Don't worry about him," assured Jay. "He'll be able to hold his own against the IT drone. I hope."
Back at the bridge where we had fallen off the limo I was just getting back up when an iron hard fist connected with my head and put me back down again. I opened my eyes and saw Robo-Gadget standing over me with an evil grin.
"Why don't you just give up now inspector?" he mocked. "You can't beat me because I'm superior to you in very way."
"That remains to be seen, besides, I'm not dead yet."
"No but you soon will be. Prepare to die!"
With that Robo-Gadget lunged at me, prepared to fight to the death.
A/N: Yes, it's another cliffhanger! Will Gadget survive his battle with Robo-Gadget? Will Taylor, Jay, and Shelby be able to stop the delivery of the 1-A Battle Drones? To find out the answers keep those reviews rolling in. I can also guarantee that the fight between Gadget and Robo-Gadget will be much more epic than it was in the movie. R&R for the next exciting installment of Inspector Gadget: Reboot!