I'd like to thank all of the people who have contributed to this story so far. There just isn't enough space to do so. So, in this case, a special shout out to Akinyi, who gave me the idea for this chapter. Another to Kt, who helped me in the right direction. Last but not least, to StarEva01, who is a master editor.
As usual, Disney owns what it owns. My fellow authors own what they have been kind enough to lend me. (Including themselves.) The rest is from my own imagination. Ponch and John appear courtesy of whichever network produced "CHiPs" back in the day.
Once upon a time, there was an interesting little site on the Internet where people interested in a Disney cartoon could gather and post stories of their own creation.
Over time, it was noticed that odd creatures, plot bunnies, were starting to infest the site, biting the writers at an astounding rate, causing odd and sometimes weird behavior from those that were bitten. And it started to affect the stories as well.
One young writer, now a twelve year-old genius and writing partner with her father, created a weapon to fight these creatures: the Godzilla Grand-Slam Bunny-Eradicator 4000 or the BE-4000 as it's sometimes called. With it, the young writer, Kt, started working to control the plot bunnies.
Then another author, cpneb, started to see another plot creature: plot squirrels. They had the same effect on the writers as the bunnies did.
When this development was noted in the discussion forum, Kt got another equally brilliant young writer to join her in fighting to control these plot creatures, Akinyi.
When CaptainIT made a joking comment that the young pair of writers were starting to sound like the characters from a certain television show, the joke became a one shot story that has grown from there.
Now the team of Kt and Akinyi have been joined by Joss Possible; and together have become collectively known as "The Angels", or as they are called now, "Angel's West." I try to help them out where and when I can.
We have, in turn, been joined by another team. Headed by Samurai Crunchbird, this new team is made up of Abscentialuci and Neo the Saiyan Angel. They have been joined by Monique Jenkins. Together, they are known as "Angels East."
They all work for me. My name is Thomas. And I work for cpneb.
The Conversion
He had struggled to get her back to the lair, but it would all be worth it. Who knew a twelve year old girl could be such a handful?
Now, as MaceEcam watched the blank expression on Kt's face, he knew that things were going to change. The Angels were finished. They just didn't know it yet. One of their own would be their downfall. "If you can't beat them, make them join you!" he screamed evilly. He had been practicing his evil laugh, much as Senor Senior Sr. had in the show. Mace's laugh was a cross between the evil snicker of that villain and Zorpox' boo-yah-hah-hah.
There was a slight ping as the Attitudinator completed its task. Taking the helmet from his erstwhile opponent's head, the mad writer watched her expression. The blank stare lifted, as if a switch had been thrown. In its place was a grin that was terrible to behold. A gleam lit her eyes as she tossed her dark hair, after being crushed by the helmet.
"Well played, Mace, you evil poser! You've gotten things rolling towards taking over the Fanny Awards. All that's needed now is a little overhaul of your plans." She stood from her seat and stretched. Looking around at the plot critters, Kt nodded. "We will have to talk about how the rewards are to be divided though. Ninety/ten seems fair given the sitch. I play second banana to nobody. A-boo-yah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Even if Dad's initials do come first in our screen name. The Fannies will surrender to me first. Not us, me! You're just a hired help."
All mace could do was utter a small 'Eep' as the thought flashed through his head… "What have I done?!"
xx
Even as fast as the hover car was, it still took two hours to fly back to the Los Angeles office from the Ten Pound Island facility. And for Thomas, seated between Monique and Neo, he had spent every second of it going over a list of regrets.
Foremost was the regret of getting his young charge into this mess. Second was regret for the coffee that he had while talking with Samurai Crunchbird. For some strange reason, getting into a vehicle of any kind resulted in the need of visiting the rest room. There were others, but those two topped the list.
Once the hover car landed on the pad at the office, Neo and Monique pulled him from the car. Every muscle in his body screaming in protest as he tried to stand The ladies helped Thomas to the ground, and the party made their way to the door. It swung open when they were only halfway to it. Joss Possible and Akinyi, two of the original Angels, rushed out to meet them. Both were in a state of anxiety, but were still holding things together. They might be teenagers, but they were professionals.
"'neb has been on the intercom since we called you. Ja is on his way in from whatever site he was working when he got your call." Akinyi came up and looked squarely into her colleague's eyes. "We will get her back, won't we?"
Luci stepped forward. While she was a diminutive figure physically, her presence was that of somebody who towered. "Don't worry, girls. The Angels never leave their own to the mercy of maniacs." The blonde held her hand out. "Absentialuci, armed forces member, mechanic and fellow fan fiction writer."
The brunette stepped up next to her. "Neo, microbiology student and writer of odd pairings."
Introductions complete, everyone made for the stairs. Rushing, as much as he could, Thomas took the lead. He wanted a fresh look at where his young friend had been taken. In all of the crime scene shows, it was critical to see things before they were disturbed. A scene told a story, and he intended to read this one correctly.
Stepping into the office, Thomas paused for a moment. He swept the room with his eyes. There were some overturned chairs, scattered papers and a couple of over turned side tables. It was just as he had predicted, she hadn't gone without putting up a fight.
Over by the elevator doors was something that didn't belong. A single large piece of plant material was stuck in the fibers of the carpeted steps going to the elevator. Looking more closely, he could now see a faint but definite trail going from the central work station, presumably where Kt had been, and the elevator doors. As predicted, she hadn't gone without putting up a fight.
Stepping carefully through the chaos that was the west coast office of 'nebs Angels, he went and picked out the piece of what looked like dried straw. Having grown up out in the country, he was familiar with hay. This wasn't it, not in the conventional sense.
At that moment the elevator doors opened, and Ja roared through, fedora on his head and a look that could kill. He blew right past the man on bended knee and stood in the center of the room.
"Okay, where is that dirty snake in the grass! Just point me in the right direction and then stay out of the way. Nobody messes with my little girl!" He pulled a small hand-held device out of his pocket and scanned around the room. If Mace were hiding anywhere nearby, he'd know it soon enough.
"My guess would be somewhere in the Midwest, roughly in the Montana or North Dakota areas."
Every set of eyes in the room turned to look at Thomas, who had the piece of straw in one hand. He held his PosComm in the other, pointed at the straw in analysis mode.
There was a curious expression on his face. Gone was the fatigue of the last few weeks. In its place was an oddly calm, questioning look. This was a side of the man that none had seen so far.
"This grass is not the sort you find just anywhere. According to the PosComm, it's natural prairie grass." Slowly getting to his feet, he walked over to the central computer. Clicking away at the keyboard, he began to go into lecture mode. "The grass that currently grows in the Midwest and is used for hay is not real prairie grass for the most part. It was mostly plowed under for fodder more suited to cattle, or to plant grains for human consumption."
A picture of a plant appeared on the main monitor. "This is the real thing, prairie grass, what buffalo ate before the wave of European settlement. There has been an effort to return sections of Montana, North Dakota and Southern Alberta back to its natural state." Thomas turned and faced his audience. "This is where he was before he took your daughter, Ja. That's where he will most likely take her."
"So much space to cover! But no big." Cool as a cucumber he stared at the map that filled a secondary monitor and attached his device. Instantly, exact satellite positions over the entire area appeared.
Turning to Thomas, he smiled. "You're up next."
Thomas looked perplexed for a moment, and then smiled while the girls looked on dumbfounded.
"Simple girls, she's chipped." Ja told them
"Well, not her exactly." A voice came from the speakers. 'neb himself was present, in his own unique way. "As you know, we keep a close watch on the girls when they are out on missions. Not unlike the way Wade always knows where Kim is at all times. When we put together the mission equipment, we felt it was prudent to place small tracking chips into key pieces of equipment."
The image on the monitor changed, showing a small device, the size and shape of a grain of rice.
"Devices encoded with the Angels' identification information have been embedded in their PosComms, the heels of their boots, and the wrist grapples of their gloves. Assuming Kt was wearing any of this, we can find her."
"And just when were you planning to let us in on this little secret?" Luci glared at Thomas, being the most convenient physical target. While only five foot one, not counting the heels of her boots, she was quite intimidating when angry. "I don't like the idea of somebody looking over my shoulder every step I take. I get enough of that at work!"
"It was done as an emergency measure." Thomas stood up to look the young woman in the eyes. "I would have told you, but that would have compromised its usefulness. Think, if an enemy discovered that we could track you, what would they do?" Gone was the calm. The Angels could all read this new expression. Fear. Plain and simple fear. "I don't want to lose any of you. You are more than fellow writers and friends. You are an extended family."
For possibly the first time in her life, Luci backed away from somebody she had been angry at.
Sitting back down, Thomas returned his attention to the keyboard and began punching keys. Images of satellites in orbit began appearing as Ja's device gave him control of them. The telemetry showed them moving, as their thrusters were activated. Once in position, they began to send out a signal. They were searching for the lost one.
"To prevent detection," a new voice called from the speakers. "the chips are passive. They respond to the signal you now see being transmitted. Once they receive a specifically coded microburst, they respond, and then three of the satellites will fix on the response, triangulating a position." Wade Load himself was now involved in the conversation.
Akinyi and Joss crowded in behind the "Kirk chair" and watched the progress of the search. Ja had moved around to the space just in front of the main screen. The Angels East had taken up positions at computer terminals around the room. Mesmerized, everyone stared at the monitors as one section after another was eliminated from the search pattern.
A red circle with crosshairs centered itself on the screen and began blinking. Along side of it a string of data appeared, showing that the chip in question was located in Kt's wrist grapple. The other chips were there as well. The target was in the North West corner of North Dakota, only ten minutes drive from the border it shared with Alberta, Canada.
"There she is, and now we are going to get her back." Thomas turned slightly and thought for a moment. "The problem is, we have five Angels, and only one working hover car."
Ja turned and glared at the younger man. "Don't you even think of telling me to stay put, Thomas. She may be one of 'neb's Angels, but that is my little girl out there! I'm not about to sit here and leave her in the clutches of a lunatic."
In response, Thomas turned to the nearest voice pick up. "We need some transportation here. With just the one vehicle, it isn't going to work."
Before 'neb or Wade could speak up, Joss stuck out a hand. "Ya'll want transport; I've got it for ya. Blaze-IT is going to contribute one hover jet, gratis." She too turned to a mike. "Wade, make it happen, please and thank you."
The young man's disembodied voice responded instantly. "Your wish is my command. It will be there in an hour. Less if at all possible." Having the equipment of both Team Possible and Blaze-IT Search and Rescue at his fingertips made for a quick response time. Now, it was going to save an Angel.
xx
Meanwhile, in a small rural community of North Dakota, there was a serious debate going on. The once gleeful MaceEcam was now shrinking in on himself, wondering just what he had gotten himself into.
"Why don't we just continue to release the hybrid plot bunnies? They've been doing a pretty good job of keeping the other authors from submitting anything new. I need time to write, you know, otherwise this whole thing is worthless." Mace looked at the young lady who now was striding around the room. This was supposed to be his weapon against those that were standing in the way of his plans to take the Fannies by storm.
"I told you, your plan was flawed. The entire Kimmunity knows what you've been up to. Do you really think that any of your stories will get votes? There were enough stories posted before you started planning to take over the awards." Kt looked at him with undisguised disdain. "If you want control over the Fannie Awards, you have to take on the head of the whole thing."
Kt walked over to the computer terminal she had just finished setting up. While it wasn't on the level of the resources she'd had at the Angel's office, she could make do. She punched keys and a profile appeared from the fan fiction archives.
"Now that Zaratan is based in Alberta, we can simply grab him, and the Fannies are ours for the taking. Even 'neb himself isn't going to try to stop us as long as we hold Zaratan." With a most awful giggle, nothing like her usual expression of happiness, she stared at the monitor. This was not the Kt so many of the Kimmunity had met and loved. "We take him, and tell everyone that they have no choice but to vote for us and our stories. And Dad will never take away my computer time again!" A grim smile spread across her face.
"Kidnapping! Kt, you are talking about a major felony. Releasing plot creatures is one thing, but to actually hold somebody against his will…" Mace shuddered, realizing how quickly things had gotten out of hand. He was conveniently forgetting that he had kidnapped the young woman before him.
"Well, I can see one person who is never going to get villain of the year!" Kt turned on a heel and walked around petting the plot bunnies and throwing acorns to the squirrels. Even though the Attitudinator had played with her mind, it couldn't seem to take away parts of her original personality. "Yes, you've been good little animals, haven't you? We'll just let you run around and have your own fun." She treated the creatures as if they were favored pets.
xx
Precisely one hour after the request, a hover jet had landed on the rooftop pad. It was a tight fit. The parts of the damaged hover car had been moved to the hanger in one corner. The other hover car was parked close to the rail that ran around the perimeter of the roof.
Luci was familiarizing herself with the controls as Joss leaned over her shoulder. On a monitor set in the overhead panel, Wade Load was watching the process. Fortunately, most of the systems that the Angels used were standardized, so it was just a question of getting things set up for her comfort and flying style.
Thomas leaned in through the door. "Are you just about set in here, Luci? Ja is getting ready to spit iron nails, and I'd just as soon not be a convenient target." The elder member of the JAKT writing team was indeed fidgeting with the straps of his seat. Neo was doing her best to calm him down, but it didn't seem to be helping much. Monique was sitting in the copilot's seat, trying to follow the checklist on her screen.
"I'm ready when you are. Are you sure you don't want to ride with Joss and Akinyi? There's an extra seat now." Absentialuci looked at the man. All through the pre-mission briefing, she knew he had been beating himself over the head for not making sure that security was tight enough. He needed to see this one out himself, to her way of thinking. Then he could get over it and be ready for the next task.
"No, thank you. Two hours in one of those cars was plenty for me. Besides, you might have to move fast, and I don't want to slow you down." Thomas tapped his cane on the door jamb significantly. "I'll be keeping a close eye on things, don't worry."
Joss exited the vehicle and the two buttoned up the hatch. Slapping the door twice, Thomas backed away, and Luci took it up, headed in a north easterly direction. Joss walked over to the hover car, where Akinyi was already in the middle of the departure check list. The older man walked over with her, and handed her up into the cockpit, even if she didn't really need the help.
"Be careful out there, ladies. We don't know exactly what MaceEcam has done with Kt, but you should be ready for anything. Cover each other, and follow the plan that we came up with. Call if you need anything." Thomas watched as the canopy lowered. The car rose into the air and disappeared in the same direction as the jet had.
Going down to the office, he sat in the chair at the main console. The screen was showing a detailed satellite image of the area that Kt's homing chip had responded from. Pushing a few keys, the image zoomed in several times. There were a lot of animals down there. Bunnies and squirrels abounded, with pigeons winging overhead.
"This is so not good." Thomas took a swig of cold coffee and grimaced. He keyed his voice link. "This isn't going to work, 'neb. The ladies need more help."
"I've already contacted Samurai Crunchbird and he is on his was to Louisiana. Our 'ace in the hole' will be on site shortly after Akinyi and Joss." 'neb was sounding just as worried as his office coordinator. "Between Thad (with the Sword of the Ancient Mystics) and the Angel at Large, I would think that the odds will be pretty much in our favor." cpneb finished.
"Well, I'm still not leaving anything to chance." Thomas said as he put the office systems on automatic, got up and headed to the elevator. Once inside, he punched the code on the new digital lock, placing the top three floors of the building in lock down mode until somebody with the right pass code and voice print opened the doors. Then, with a somber look on his face, he pressed the button for the garage level.
It was a quick ride down to the underground garage. The doors opened onto a space lit by long fluorescent lights. There were a large number of cars, owned by the employees of the companies that rented space in the building. Opposite the exit ramp was a locked gate, which seemed to be blocking off an old shipping door.
Thomas reached into a pocket and pulled out a key. Opening the padlock, he pulled the gate back and rolled up the rusted garage door.
Instead of the expected loading dock, behind the door was a smallish room. One wall was covered in various pieces of equipment. From this assortment, Thomas pulled a wide belt, not unlike the utility belt of the comic book super heroes. The pouches on the belt he filled one by one, systematically. His PosComm went on his left hip. On his right was something that looked like an air pistol, in a holster that hung low like an old time Wild West gunfighter. A coil of aircraft grade cable, super fine, went into a pouch next to the pistol-like device. At his back, hanging from his belt, he placed a pair of handcuffs snuggled up next to the Crazer 3.0.
Turning from the wall, he faced the vehicle that was sitting in the middle of the room.
He had not expected to need this car. The Angels were able to take care of just about any situation. Still, he had wanted a means of transportation for himself, and it was always a good idea to be prepared. A quiet word in the right ears, and the result had been ready just as the office was coming on line.
The Smart Roadster was black, with a charcoal grey interior. It looked like a thousand others of its kind roaming city streets in Europe and North America. However, looks can be and were deceiving in this case. The power for this car was a hybrid system designed by James Timothy and Timothy James Possible. The small engine charged batteries that in turn powered the four electric motors, one at each wheel. As with everything they touched, the machine was a testimonial to the need for speed.
Thomas opened the driver's side door and picked a hat up off of the seat. The grey Aussie style hat fit snugly on his head, the brim sheltering his eyes. Putting on a pair of sunglasses, he got into the drivers seat and put the key into the ignition. The custom dash came to life, with digital readouts of the systems on what was essentially a built in PosComm. On the center of the console, a hidden panel powered up and displayed an outline of a hand. Thomas placed his right hand inside the outline and watched a green light scan up and down his palm three times. Once the light disappeared, a ramp quickly appeared and bridged the distance down from the hidden garage to the exit ramp.
Giving the hat a downward tug at the front, Thomas placed the car in drive and floored the accelerator. The black car shot out of the hidden parking space like a bullet shot out of rifle, and left the garage in a cloud of tire smoke. As the smoke cleared, the ramp quickly disappeared and the door closed automatically as the gate swung shut, once again hiding any evidence of the hidden garage.
xx
Out on the freeway system, two California Highway Patrol officers were riding their usual patrol. They had been on the bikes for several hours so far today, having stopped just long enough for a quick lunch. Now they were cruising the middle of the three north bound lanes, keeping an eye out for speeders, drunk drivers and unsafe vehicles.
As they approached an on ramp, they saw a small black car enter the first lane and immediately cut across traffic into the high speed passing lane.
Francis "Ponch" Poncherello looked over to his partner. John Baker looked back at him, and gave a brief nod. Both men reached and turned on their lights and sirens. With a twist of the throttles, they were off in pursuit.
The car had looked simple enough. It should have been easy to catch this driver and remind him or her of the rules of the road. As they had been trained, they made a mental note of the license plate number; PLT BNE. An odd choice for a vanity plate they had both thought. They pulled up to within a few yards of the vehicle and started to wave it over.
Thomas saw the lights in his mirror. "Sorry guys," he said to himself, "I don't have time for this. I'll turn myself in later. I promise." Reaching over to a red button on his console, he pushed it, and the car leapt forward. In seconds, the two motorcycles were left far behind, and the car silently disappeared as it made its way through light, midday traffic.
Ponch and John pulled over onto the shoulder. Turning off the machines, they got off and removed their helmets and sunglasses.
"John, did you see what I just saw. We've been outrun by a Smart Car!" Ponch looked off into the distance, as if he might see the vehicle. They had chased down Cameros and Mustangs. They had pulled over Ferraris and Lamborghinis. How had a car with a three cylinder engine just blown them away?
"Do we really want to call this one in, Ponch? I mean, we both saw the car and got the plate number, but the sergeant is never going to believe it got away from us so easily." John looked down at the radio on the bike. He reached for the mike. His partner intercepted his hand.
"We'd never live it down. Let it go."