Ch. 13: Recuperating and Plotting
Previously on Inspector Gadget: Body of Steel
"He's down here, ground level!" yelled a voice followed by bullets coming dangerously close to our heads as we ducked and crawled behind Ashley's cruiser.
Ashely drew her gun to return fire but I stopped her. "Don't…"
"Why not? They're trying to kill us! It's them or us!"
"It's me they're after… and they only know what Xavier told them. They're only following orders… and besides, they're cops too."
"Then what do we do?"
"This," I muttered as I pulled a smoke grenade out and tossed it over the car.
"Grenade!" we heard someone yell and the hissing of the tear gas being released.
"That'll only buy us a few seconds you know."
"Yeah, I know, but it'll be long enough for our escape vehicle to get here."
A second later a set of headlights lit us up and a metallic blue Mustang GT pulled up beside us and the doors opened by themselves.
"Oh my, I certainly hope those lubricants don't stain my upholstery."
"Shut up, Gadgetmobile and drive!" I snapped as we got in.
"Where to?"
"Not the precinct, there's going to be a warrant for my arrest out soon if there isn't one already. My place and Shelby's are off limits, those will be the first places they'll look."
"Well I think I know a place," Ashley spoke up.
As it turned out Ashely's choice of hide out was a disused disposal yard. It was secluded, being in an abandoned industrial area and would suit our needs for now.
"I can do some basic repairs right now but if I'm to get anywhere near peak efficiency I'm going to need Taylor and or Jay," I said.
It was early evening and I had opened my chest to do some repair work.
"I can go get them this evening when they leave the precinct," Ashley offered.
"Thanks, and tell Shelby I'm alright. I don't want her to worry."
"Of course, anything else?"
"No, I just need to make sure I survive until you can get the doctors here."
"OK then, I'm going to go get them right now. Stay safe."
"What else am I going to do? There's a manhunt for me right now," I laughed hollowly.
Over an hour later I heard the sound of tires on the gravel road leading into the plant. I got up from where I had been lying down, trying to get some rest and lacking my gun, deployed the electric cannon in my forearm. I switched my vision to thermal and scanned the area the sound had originated from. Thankfully it was Ashley returning with Jay, Taylor, and a bag of supplies for me. I stood down and greeted them as they walked into the assembly floor.
"Hey, glad to see you're alright," I grinned as I enveloped Taylor in a hug.
"Glad to see you're still alive. You look like crap, though."
"Yes, I know. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror of the car. It's a sight I'd thought I'd only see in the middle of one of the Terminator movies."
"Well we can't fix the cosmetic damage, obviously, but we can fix some of the structural and internal damage you're sure to have sustained. But first, I need some chips," Jay added as he removed a bag of Doritos from his backpack.
"By the way, here's your gun, some extra ammo clips, and we stopped by Carl's Jr. in case you were hungry," added Ashley as she held up the fast food bag.
"Thanks a lot, I'll have that after the good doctors are finished poking around inside my body."
"Alright, let's open you up and see what the damage is," Taylor said as I sat down on a pile of scrap metal I had found and made a crude chair out of. "Jay, bring the light we packed."
"I'm eating."
"NOW!"
"Alright, I'll get it."
Jay brought the light over and turned it on, grumbling all the way while I unbuttoned my shirt so Taylor could peel open the skin sheath and access the cybernetic systems. She was about to unseal the skin on my torso when I heard something elsewhere in the auto plant.
"Nobody move," I said suddenly.
"What is it?" asked Ashley as she reached for her gun.
"I'm pretty sure I heard another car on the gravel. Are you sure you weren't followed?" I questioned as I got up and picked up my gun.
"Pretty sure, we didn't see anyone behind us."
"Well you might have had a tail nonetheless. I'm going to check it out, you cover me. Taylor, Jay, get ready to run if we tell you to."
The two of us inched our way to the sides of an open doorway and I peeked out using my thermal vision. There was the heat signature of a car a few yards inside from the gate but I didn't see a person yet. I looked around a bit more and saw someone coming in our direction.
"Someone's headed in our direction, get ready to ambush him when he walks in."
"Got it."
A tense minute later we heard the crunch of boots on gravel as the person got closer and was silhouetted in the light of the half-moon coming in through the door. Finally the individual walked in and stopped, letting their eyes adjust to the dark. Ashley didn't give them the time and leaped from the shadows, tackling the person to the ground.
"Hold it right there, don't move!"
"Ow, get off my arm!"
"Don't move!"
"Shelby?"
"David?"
"What? Shelby?"
"You're hurting my arm, Ashley."
"Wait a second."
A moment later the area was lit up as I turned on a flashight. It was indeed Shelby who Ashley had wrestled to the ground.
"Will you get off me now?"
"Sorry Shelby, we didn't know it was you and we couldn't take chances."
"Didn't you tell her to stay at home?" I sighed as I helped my fiancée up.
"I did, but apparently she had other ideas."
"I'm right here, you know."
"Sorry, Shelby, but what the hell are you doing here?"
"I had to see that you were alright for yourself. But I can't see you very well on the other side of that light. Why don't you come into the light?"
"I-I don't think that would be a good idea."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been shot at a lot today, first by the CB 210s and then by Archangel security. All those bullets have done some significant… cosmetic damage. So please understand if I don't want you to see me like this."
"David, I've told you already that I don't care about the metal. I still love you all the same, despite what you are underneath. Now please, I want to see you."
"I don't want you to see me. I don't want to scare you."
"Scare me? How scared do you think I was when the police turned up outside my door, asking if I knew where you were because you had gone rogue? That's the most scared I've been since we became a couple, I doubt that what's happened to you will compare to that."
"Don't be so sure."
Shelby had finally had enough of my evasion. She took a step closer to me and slapped me right across the face.
"If you think I'm that shallow then maybe we shouldn't be getting married," she stated. "I don't know how many times I have to say it for you to believe it but I love you, and that love is not affected because you're a cyborg."
"I'm still scared how you'll react to my current state."
Shelby sighed, grabbed me by the tie and pulled me into a heated kiss that caught me completely off guard.
"Now do you believe me?" she asked after we broke apart.
I had been too surprised to respond and it took a second for me to remember how to speak. "Almost."
She pressed her lips to mine again and this time I responded with equal vigor.
"How about now?"
"I think you've convinced me."
Shelby took the flashlight from me hand and turned it on, illuminating my torn face and the metal skull underneath.
She stared at me for a full minute before kissing me lightly on the lips. "Nothing's changed, I still love you," she whispered.
"Thank you. Now I'd better get back or Taylor will threaten all sorts of things I can really do without like extra checkups with an extra-large serving of Jay's rambling on the side."
Shelby and Ashley both giggled at this.
"Oh you laugh now but watch, that'll be one of the first things out of her mouth," I defended myself.
The waiting area outside Xavier's office was in the midst of repairs. Workers shuffled about, cleaning up the debris, replacing the damaged lights and electronic displays, and making the area look as though there had never been a death battle in the first place. The elevator doors opened and Cyrus Slater sauntered out. He looked at the work taking place, appreciating the speed and efficiency at which the room was being returned to its usual splendor, before approaching the secretary's desk.
"Hey there, Vanessa. I'm busy right now but later I've got some free time. Maybe we can meet up somewhere for drinks and… some other stuff."
The secretary regarded him with a stoic expression before speaking a cool, modulated, professional tone. "You can go in, Mr. Slater, he's expecting you."
Slater shrugged his shoulders before shuffling into Xavier's office.
"How's life, Xavier?"
"Better before you spilled your guts to the inspector."
"Look at this face, he was going to kill me!"
"Do you know what he is, Slater? He's a cyborg. He recorded what you said and what you said involved me. Now kill him before he gets the story to the authorities."
"What a minute, your company built him and now I have to deal with him? Get off the crack, you're Looney Tunes. Besides, there are kill on sight orders for him, he's not telling anybody."
"Every second he's alive he is a threat to me and to you. Now either you take care of him or our agreement is null and void."
"Hey, you can't do that you bastard! We had a deal, I do a few select small favors for you here and there and in exchange I'll be the last man standing in the underground when New Detroit is built. This is no small favor! I don't have time for your bull."
"Very well, but just imagine the possibilities. In several months New Detroit will begin construction and that means hundreds of workers in trailer camps. Just think of the profits stood to be gained by gambling, drinking, and drugs. One man could control all of it. But it's hard to do that when you're doing fifty to life."
Slater stopped and thought over what Xavier had told him. It was a fortune just waiting to be made.
"Come on, I'll even give you the firepower to get the job done… Cyrus."
"Well, it looks like we're going to remain partners after all… Lloyd. Just spring my boys and it's a done deal."
"Consider it done. I'll arrange to have the assault cannons taken from storage and loaded into your car. Here's a tracking device, it'll take you right to him."
"You got it, chief. Nothing fancy, just go in, destroy him, and get out. Easy."
"Don't underestimate him, he was designed by Doctors' Ramirez and Powell so he's someone to be reckoned with. Now find him, kill him, and don't fail me."
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, writer's block was conspiring to keep this chapter from getting out. But I know where I'm taking the rest of the story so I should have it done in two to three more chapters and possibly an epilogue. Once this is done keep an eye out for Inspector Gadget: The Series. Preview out now.