Chapter 2
Prince had been down in the breakfast room for a while before they showed up and was on her second plate of scrambled eggs and hasbrowns and what was probably her 5th cup of coffee. Just how she liked it, strong, three sugars and lots of milk. It was probably a heinous crime to all coffee lovers, but she didn't care. She looked up to see Gadget and the two bots approaching. "Oh, er... H-Hi." She gestured to the 3 empty seats. One next to her and the other two facing. "Care to join me?"
Gadget caught sight of Inspector prince immediately and nervously smiled. "Uh... Yeah. Sure." He took a seat across from her.
Digit smiled as he took the seat besides Prince and Fidget besides Gadget.
"So what is the plan? What does our mission consist of?" he asked trying not to let the events of the morning replay in his head. All he could do was see her in her nightwear and his cheeks warmed at the thought of laying his head between her mounds of fun again. No. He was a respectable inspector of the law! He could not think such impure thoughts! It was incredibly wrong of him.
"Im sorry!" He had no idea why, he just blurted it out as he covered his face in embarrassment with his gloved hands.
Prince was just taking a bite of a hash brown when he suddenly expressed his apology and she almost choked. "Wh-What? N-No! Think nothing more of it. I... I shouldn't have burst in like that, but I was just worried a MAD agent had found you."
Digit sat staring up at the purple haired woman. "We could have handled it."
"Oh, I have no doubt." She smiled down at the blue bot and winked at him. "But, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't spring into action."
Fidget smiled. "So, the mission?"
"Yes, well... About that. There are several reports from an anonymous source about Dr Claw and his agents doing all kinds of nasty things. Also, we have to protect a special agent. It turns out Claw is after him. The agent's name is Gedtag and the hired assassin is only known as Percin. That's all we have on them. Nothing more. We have to protect them at all costs as well as foiling any other plots that may be in progress." She reached for her coffee. "That's all, really."
"Gedtag, huh? What a silly name. Right! Where do we start?" Gadget asked as his extra hand sprang from his hat to grab his breakfast. Simple toast, eggs and sausage, and brought it back to him clumsily before he began eating.
"Silly indeed." She slurped her coffee down and gestured the somewhat shocked assistant, who was baffled by Gadget's extending arm, to grab her another. "I think we last got word that a warehouse was being used to store weapons that Dr Claw was planning on shipping out all over the world. I would say that is out best bet."
Fidget. "That fiend! We should definitely start there, right Digit?"
Digit was miles away deep in thought while staring up at Prince with a blank face. He hadn't even registered a single word that had been said.
"I agree, Fidget. But we must treat this delicately. We could be walking into a trap!" Gadget said as he popped a bit of sausage into his mouth. As the waiter came, he seemed to suddenly trip. Gadget, surprisingly moving out of the way just in time in a rare display of quick reactions, avoiding getting hit with the coffee. "My dear boy you should be more... More..."
Gadget trailed off as something entirely different came over him. Some raw rage. His eyes darkened as he felt his inner thoughts die down, as if suddenly asleep and an entirely new presence came forward.
Prince, however, was not so lucky and she was drenched with coffee due to the waiter'sclumsy fall. "Gah, what the... No, precious coffee! Now I'll have to change!"
Digit and Fidget, who had dived to one side, noticed Gadget looked off. Had he been hit by hot coffee? "Uh... Inspector?" Digit tilted his head to look him in the eye. "Are you OK?"
Gadget looked to the blue Gadgetini. "Fine. Never better." A sinister grin crept into his features as he then looked to Prince and stood rather suddenly from his seat. "You are coming with me." He reached forwards, took hold of her clothing and picked her up. After he threw her over his shoulder, his hand on her rear to keep her steady before he walked off.
Prince was in the process of dusting herself off and dabbig at her cherry red wool coat with napkins to try and get out some of the coffee when she was suddenly grabbed and flung over his shoulder. The hand against her rear made her hair stand on end. "Yeeeek, Gadget what are y- WATCH WHERE YOU ARE TOUCHING!"
"Wait! Where are you taking her?" Digit yelled in surprise.
Gadget, before vanishing out of the dining room, turned his head slightly in response to the small bot. "Come with me." He all but stomped to their room, making sure no one would follow them.
Digit and Fidget followed close behind, giving each other worried glances as they made it to their room. Gadget put Prince down outside the doorway. "Dont you move from this spot or you will regret it."
"Uh... Um... Yes sir?" What was going on? What was happening? Was this some sort of training exercise?
Gadget looked behind. "You two! Come with me!" he snapped to his two subordinates as he walked inside the room to confront Penny. "Oh penny my dear! We need to talk." he said as his third hand pulled out a rope from inside his hat.
Digit and Fidget raced after Gadget. "What's going on? What are you..." When they heard how he talked to Penny, they inwardly leaped. Something was very wrong. "Inspector, what gives!?"
Penny looked over to her Uncle and almost passed out. He looked so different. Something was wrong with him. She'd seen him malfunction before, but never anything like this. "Uncle Gadget what are you doing!?"
"Keep quiet you." he said as he extended his arms to gather the three of them up and bound them tight before doing the same to the female Gadgetinis who had been off to the side amusing themselves.
"Why dont you all just... Stay in the room today? Inspector Prince and i have somewhere to be." he grinned darkly, admiring his skillful handiwork, before he left the room, shut the door and picked up Prince once more.
Penny yelled out, shuffling and thrashing to try and loosen the ropes. "GRRR AGH what is going on!? What's wrong with you!? What do you mean!?" But it was too late. Gadget had already exited the room and slammed the door behind him.
Prince, who had once again been picked up and manhandled for the second time in a matter of a few minutes, squirmed on his shoulder. "Hey! W-Watch it! What are you doing? Hands off the goods!"
Back inside the room, Penny looked to the Gadgetinis and shook her head. "This is wrong. Something is very wrong with him. We need to escape and I can run a scan using my laptop."
Digit piped up. "Didn't you hear? He said he and Prince have to be somewhere! What if she's in danger?"
Fidget rammed a shoulder against Digit. "Come on dont just sit there!" he said as he began trying to chew his way out of the ropes.
Digit just sat there looking entirely unimpressed iwth his brother as he chewed on the ropes. "Fidget..."
"What?"
"You were made with perfectly good gadgets, use them you dope!"
With that, a circular saw-like blade extrended from Digit's hat and severed the ropes that held the two Gadgetinis and Penny together. Data and Scooter were tied separately and Digit couldn't help but feel a little smug as he wandered away from them without assisting.
"Digit, you forgot the girls!" Fidget pointed to them, to which Digit responded with a quick and defiant flick of his tongue.
Scooter and data yelled indignantly at Digit as he stuck his tongue out at them. "Come on guys. We gotta help Uncle Gadget!" Penny stated as she walked over to her laptop.
Digit huffed and stood his ground, but Fidget moved over and untied the girls earning him a hug from Data. Penny set to work on her laptop and sat down on the bed. Her fingers clattered on the keys and her brow furrowed as she concentrated.
"Hey guys, you remember how I am able to track and scan Uncle Gadget? Well... There's something weird going on with his signal. This is... Strange,"
Digit moved over to Penny to look over her shoulder. "How strange? What is?" he asked as Fidget moved over to move him out of the way as they looked.
Penny shook her head. "I can't be sure, but... It's like I'm sensing an extra signal that's causing him to malfunction."
Fidgit stared in shock. "Malfunction? Again!?"
Digit leaped in shock. "Prince! He has Prince! We've not a minute to lose!"
Scooter and Data looked over to the blue bot with a confused expression, before dashing for the door.
Penny looked to Fidget with a brow raised. "Well that got his attention." Fidget stated in exasperation as he and Penny ran out the door after the others in the direction the signal was coming from.
Meanwhile, Prince was in turmoil as she was bundled off by Gadget in a manner similar to a viking raid. She was both in fear for her life and yet oddly curious about this strange, clearly powerful man and his plan.
It didn't take them long before they reached a warehouse and Gadget unceremoniously tore open the huge, heavy metal doors as if they were paper. Prince shivered at the display of strength. She certainly didn't want to ever get on his bad side, that was for certain.
But, this warehouse... Had he... Found the one that she had mentioned earlier? Was this them working the case? "Oh you genius! I'm not sure about a date as a cover story, but well done!"
Gadget grinned as he walked in with her and stomped over to a crane. "And this, my darling... Is where we get to have a bit of fun." He set her down onto her feet, but kept his arms firmly around her waist.
"D... Darling!? Why are you talking so strangely? Is this part of the cover too? Do I have to copy?" She looked around as she spoke, noting her surroundings. There was no one else about. The warehouse was deserted apart from stacks of wooden crates all addressed to different parts of the world. She looked up at the crane. "Fun?"
Gadget smirked as he grabbed ahold of her as a hand slid from from his hat and brought the crane down. "Oh yes. Loads for me sweet cheeks. Might hurt a bit for you. See I am gonna hook you up to this crane." he said as he took her chin in his hand to force her to look at him. "And then good bye sweetie pie!" he grinned as he moved his face in closer.
"W... What? Wait, woah." As he forced her face to look up into his, she felt her skin prickle. Something seemed very off about him. She knew evil when she saw it and his eyes were exuding a very dark glow. "Good... Goodbye sweetie pie!? What are you talking about!? Gadget!" As his face came closer, she felt her cheeks heat up. They had only met a few hours ago, he was being very bold for his first few hours with her. If this was a cover act he had going on, he was certainly getting really into it. What was happening? "Why are you acting funny!?"
"Funny? Oh my darling there is nothing funny about this." he grinned before crashing his lips to hers in a heated, closed mouth kiss. As he had her distracted, he reached back and cuffed her hands to the lowered crane.
A kiss? She squeaked against his lips and felt her skin heat to the point she thought she was going to combust. It was only after a few moments that she even noticed her hands had been cuffed up high and she wriggled in an attempt to pull away from him. "Mmmph! Gah! What are you doing now!?"
From around the corner of a stack of crates, a MAD Agent was listening in. He had gotten there a short while earlier with his co-worker. He saw Penny coming closer and slipped behind the warehouse with his workmate, peering into the inner part to see what was happening. His teeth instantly gritted.
Gadget smirked as he pulled away. "This, sweet cheeks, is where we depart, i am afraid. You're a real looker, don't get me wrong... It isnt you. It's me! And this will hurt you a lot more than it will me!" he said as he walked over to the controls to raise the crane.
Prince watched him silently. It wasn't that she was deliberately silent, it was the fact that she couldn't even find any words to say. He had stunned her. She was confused, intimidated and oddly excited. "Wait..." She looked over to one side and saw a crate labelled 'To: JAPAN' with the lid open. Was he going to...?
"YOU ARE NOT SENDING ME TO KAWAII LAND!"
The agent from before was livid as he watched. "I gotta get in there!"
The other held him back. "No, you stay put! If you're seen that's the end o' that and you don't want to get on the wrong side of Claw and Molly."
"He's... He's... Let go of me!" The man flailed, but was thwarted by the bald agent who pushed him backwards away from the door. Anymore noise and Gadget would hear. It was suprising he hadn't already with his super hearing.
"Get a grip!"
Scooter yelled after Digit as they ran. "What are you doing, blueberry!? What's got yuor knickers in a twist?"
"Firstly, we're robots, we don't wear... Knickers! Secondly..." He didn't even look back as he dashed for the location of the warehouse. "I'M NOT A BLUEBERRY!"
Data tailed Fidget as fast as she could, but struggled a little. She was not at all used to running and her circuits were giving her jip. Penny dashed after all 4 of them and tracked Gadget using her watch. "He's in there!" She pointed to the warehouse up ahead. It was huge! It towered above them with all of it's white corrugated glory.
Digit couldn't help but cock a brow ridge. Fidget being right and sensible for once? Wowsers. "But she's in there and... What if..."
Suddenly, her yelling could be heard from inside.
"Well what are we waiting for!" Digit yelled as he went to charge in.
Fidget held him back. "No wait! It could be a trap!" he yelled as the others caught up. "We gotta use our heads!" he said.
"Fidget is right! It could be a trap. Ive got an idea." she said as she poked at her watch a bit.
Inside, Gadget laughed maniacally as he watched the crane begin to lift her to put her in the crate. That was when he heard a voice from one side of the warehouse. He was sure they were alone... "What? Who is there? Show yourself!" he yelled as he turned to look around frantically in all directions just in case. After glaring around for a while, he turned back to the task at hand. "Have fun in Japan, Inspector!" he grinned as he went to push the button.
Prince let out an almost shrill squeak as the crane edged her even closer to the inside of the crate. She did not fancy spending time in a sealed crate. That was certain death. The storage crates were not meant for live contents and had no air holes.
Digit's audio receptors instantly picked up on Prince's cry and he jolted to attention. "We cant wait! That was Prince!" he yelled as he fought against and attempted to knock the door down.
Penny had to yell at Digit, which she really didn't want. She just hoped no one had heard her. "No Digit. We need to think about this. Let's go round the back!" Scooter and Data nodded to her. Digit had no choice but to follow. They were absolutely right. Not that he would admit it in that moment.
The MAD Agent, Dick, had all but had enough of observing the cruelty towards the woman. He dived almost heroically into the warehouse after Gadget had turned back round and almost exploded when he saw what he was doing. He leaped into action before the other agent could stop him, lunged forwards and punched Gadget in the face, before running out a side door with a triumphant battlecry.
As Gadget heard a pair of footsteps, he turned just in time to get a fist to the face. He yelled out as he was sent backwards into the crane controls and as he moved to try to right himself, he slipped on a wrench and fell backwards knocking the control lever.
Prince let out a surprised yelp and she almost got put in the crate, but was saved at the last moment as she came to an abrupt halt from the wrenching of the lever. Whoever that blurr of teal was, they'd saved her and she owed them bigtime. Though Japan was no doubt a lovely country, she didn't fancy being shipped off to it at that moment, and most certainly not in that crate. "G-Gadget!?"
"Oh... What was... Inspector Prince! What happened?" he asked as he looked the woman over. "What are we doing here?" He looked around, noting that they were no longer in the hotel. He walked over towards the female inspector, tripping on the same wrench and ending up in a most familiar predicament. His yelled was muffled by the twin peaks his face was then buried in.
Prince let out a wail as he, once again, buried his face in her chest. It was like he'd switched personality entirely. She would have to talk to the chief as soon as she could, he seemed dangerous! What was even happening? "GADGET!"
It was then that Penny ran in with the Gadgetinis from the rear and covered her eyes as soon as she caught sight of what was unfolding. "UNCLE GADGET!"
Gadget quickly pulled himself from her chest and his face instantly went red. "No! I am so sorry! I would never touch you!" he yelled in his defence. "No! I mean i would touch you, but I- Gah!" He grumbled and whined, unsure of what to say. This was just making things worse.
Digit and fidget didnt know how to react. They both gaped in awe, but for different reasons. Even Data and Scooter were at a loss for words. This was highly irregular indeed.
Prince almost felt like she was about to pass out, but managed to keep herself together enough to speak. "I... N... Let's drop it. We... We're in the warehouse!" She wriggled causing the chain to clatter loudly. "Care to remove the cuffs?" Her arms were hurting and her shoulders felt as if they were about to dislocate any moment from the weight of her body.
Data and Scooter gave Gadget frowns as they moved closer, but stayed silent. Penny shook her head and get to work on informing Chief Littlewood using her watch. She had looked up his number while they were back at the hotel just in case something went down and, since it was his jurisdiction, she couldn't exactly call Quimby on it. Though she would be telling him about it much later on when Gadget wasn't aware. He would probably want to know, still being on the scene and all.
Dick, who now had a rather sore hand, watched on from the doorway again in silence, rage building within him as he watched Gadget near Prince. The other agent, Squirt, sighed and nudged him with his elbow and whispered as quietly as he could. "The heck is up with you anyway?"
Gadget sighed as he walked over and a key emerged from his pinky on his left hand. He quickly undid the cuffs and stowed them away where they belonged. His face was beet red as he helped Prince down. "So this... This is actually the warehouse? Should we split up? Or...?"
Prince dropped down and landed against Gadget's chest. She braced herself with both hands against him and cleared her throat in an attempt to flush out the memories of what had just happened. "I, uh... Yes. Split up."
"I think we should stick together." stated Fidget as he looked around at the creepy warehouse.
"Why? You scared?" Digit teased as he looked to his brother.
Ignoring the teasing going on between the Gadgetinis, Prince cleared her throat again. "Digit, you and Scooter go that way, Data and Fidget go that way and me and Gadget will, er..." She suddenly turned to Penny. "You might want to leave, it could get dangerous."
Gadget turned to look at Penny as though he had just now noticed her. "Penny! You shouldnt be here! What were you thinking? I insist you head back to the hotel. This could get ugly!" He was trying his very best to focus on sounding official and making sure his niece removed herself from the situation sue to the fact that Prince was still holding on to him. As she shifted slightly, he quickly swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as his stomach flipped.
"Y-Yes Uncle Gadget I was, uh... Sightseeing! Uh..." She scratched her head and made for the exit, only to come face to face with the two MAD agents. Well, that tore it.
Gadget had been following her with his eyes to make sure she left and gasped as he saw the two MAD agents in close proximity. "Penny!" He instantly took off in a run.
Prince was all but shoved aside as Gadget ran for two agents that had been spotted outside and had to catch herself from falling backwards. She didn't get a good look at them, but she figured she should provide him back up and ran out after him. She yelled to Data and Scooter to start surveying the warehouse and make notes on everything they found on or in the crates while they went to catch them.
Penny was trying to not get swiped by them, as Squirt was intent on capturing her. He figured she would be a good hostage. Penny dodged as the short bald agent lunged for her, but Dick had the smarter idea of fleeing. If Prince saw him... If Claw or Molly found out... But it was too late. Molly was fully aware of the fact they'd been seen. She was watching them from an unknown source and was fuming. Suddenly, her voice boomed over their ear pieces. "Diiick, Squirt! GET BOTH YOUR BUTTS OUTTA THERE OR I'LL CHOP THEM OFF!" Squirt instantly gave up and started running off as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"Come back here! You are under arrest!" Gadget yelled as he attempted to run after the two agents of MAD. He threw Penny a look over his shoulder as he quickly dashed to the side. "Penny get inside and stay with Digit and Fidget. We can handle them." Gadget reached a large, open yard, but they were nowhere to be seen. "Wowzers... They sure are fast." As Prince caught up, he looked over to her. "Did you happen to see which way they went?"
She shook her head and tried to steady her breathing. "They could have split up. You take that way, I'll take this way and we'll meet up around the front of the warehouse." With that, she ran off at full pelt.
Gadget nodded to Inspector Prince and took off to the other side of the warehouse at full speed.
Meanwhile, in the warehouse Scooter and Data had begun searching all the crates. Each one had a different location on them and inside were all kinds of weapons. It was clearly Claw's work as the MAD insignia was on everything.
"Penny!" Digit called her over. "You OK?"
"Yeah." Penny sounded puffed out, but she was unscathed. "I'm fine. Lets get collecting evidence. I called up the chief. They'll be here soon and we need something to give them."
Digit and Fidget grabbed one of the smaller boxes, but it was still large enough for them to both have to carry. "Here. This has the MAD insignia all over it. I am sure the chief here will be able to pull enough evidence." said Digit as he dropped his side, causing Fidget to flail before finally letting his side go.
Penny chuckled. "Be careful, don't wreck yourself."
Scooter sidled up. "Check yo' self before you wreck yo' self."
"Ohhhhh!" Penny and Scooter both made hand gestures, to which Digit replied by giving them both equally filthy looks.
"You guys... Really?"
Fidget lifted the lid and looked inside. Guns, ammunition of all kinds, what looked like swords and even rocket launchers were all packed in there. "This surely can't be safe... You would have thought MAD of all people would know how to properly store weapons. Don't you think, Data?"
Data, who was busy chasing a floating piece of dust jumped at being spoke to and looked around sheepishly. "I uh... I... I'm on the trees side!"
Fidget just slapped a hand to his face.
"When did the chief say he would arrive?" he asked Penny as he turned to face her.
Penny smiled at Fidget. "Wow, you sure have been a whole lot more responsible since we got over here. Good job on that. It suits you!" She pressed a button on her watch which displayed the timer she'd set for the chiefs arrival. "Any moment now, really."
Outside, Dick and Squirt had split up after all but crashing into each other behind a stack of crates and were running frantically for the exits of the warehouse district. Dick had managed to make it to the fence at the far end and leaped over it with ease. Squirt was over the other side and had come up against trees over the other side of the fence. He thought it would be perfect to hide in and hopped over the wire fence and nestled into the greenery. Prince dashed around and caught sight of Dick just before he vanished. Something inside her jumped.
As Gadget made his way around he saw Prince standing there almost motionless, her face showing an odd sort of expression and her skin paled. "Wowzers. Are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost."
It took her a moment to shake herself free, but she managed it. She turned to Gadget with a troubled expression on her face. "I don't know, I can't explain it. I thought I... No, nevermind. Did you have any luck?" She cringed and shook her head. "What am I saying? If you had you'd be dragging a MAD agent with you in cuffs. Ugh. Smooth Prince, smooth."
Gadget smiled as he put a hand to her shoulder. "Dont worry. We still have the warehouse with their weaponry. We will catch them another day." he grinned as he turned to head back to the warehouse.
Gadget and Prince's footsteps could be heard from outside moving closer and Penny flinched."I should get going. I'll see you guys back at the hotel!" With that, she dashed off right as Gadget and Prince made their way into the warehouse again.
"Ah, Data, Scooter, any luck?" Prince waved over at her Gadgetinis, her face still slightly blanched from her encounter with the unknown person. Scooter nodded. "Yup. Can I go back to bed now?" Digit grimaced at the red bot. "Lazy so and so!"