Drop in Reality
Chapter 11: The First Incursion
Sparks erupted, sending a shower to scatter below while the lights furiously blinked. The buzz echoed amidst the buildings before all was still. A small flicker and the lights returned to their original cool green. Moments later, the cycle repeated. A lithe body hugged a rugged red-bricked building, her outline disrupted at a distance by a patchy advertisement board featuring a torn cartoon mouse in a sombrero. A flash and sparks surrounded the figure, momentarily revealing Kim Possible as she cautiously glanced up in concern as the unusual behavior increased in tempo. With a frown, she turned her gaze to the twenty-story building some hundred yards away.
With a flip of her wrist, the Kimmunicator was in her hands.
"I've made it, Wade. What's with the light show?" Kim asked.
The side of the boy wonder's face appeared frantically typing at a side screen, his voice hushed as his eyes flickered back and forth.
"Wade?" Kim asked.
The boy's eyes turned towards her, lifting a single finger before returning to his conversation. Seconds stretched before he struck the enter key and swiveled his chair around to face her.
Kim blinked as she noticed the sweat on his brow.
"You all right there?" Kim asked.
"I'm fine, just a few complications…uh…Kim1? Wade finished with a trailing question as to her preferred identity.
The girl closed her eyes before nodding. "We don't have a whole lot of time at the moment, Wade. If it helps, go ahead and just number us. We still need to get this all sorted, but world crisis first, existential crisis after. Now… light show?" Kim asked, tilting the screen towards the shower of sparks falling around her.
"Ah, let me check." There was a pause as Wade shifted to his keyboard, franticly typing for a full minute before Kim heard a low mumble "Oh, that's not good,"
"What's not good?" Kim asked, turning a concerned glance up.
"It looks like whatever Ron's doing is drawing a lot of power from the city."
"And they only noticed this now?"
"From their records, it only started about the time those turrets activated when you first arrived."
"Yeah, would have been helpful just to parachute on top of the building, but letting a ride get destroyed wouldn't exactly be great."
"Probably for the best, those missiles were no joke. If the plane had come any closer, you and the pilot wouldn't have made it. I'm kind of surprised they didn't fire…"
"Great, so not only is surprise out of the question, he's preparing something special," Kim lightly rubbed her temples. The strain of the past few weeks still getting to her.
"Can we make this easy? Just cut power to the building and stop whatever super evil device he's got cooked up?" Kim asked, thinking speculatively.
"As far as I can see, the power is amassing at a single point below the building. Any sudden disruption would probably cause it to explode."
"How big of an explosion are we talking? Something along the lines of a room or building…?" Kim asked as she examined the structure. "The place is worn down, that may be a viable option." She nodded as she spotted several flickering wires coming out from the ground along the side of the building.
"You're thinking in the wrong magnitude, Kim. This thing is growing geometrically. If it isn't stopped properly, it's likely the city would become slag in a flash."
Kim sucked in a breath. "Gotcha, no power outage. Could you let the city know? Please and thank you."
"I'll send them a quick message."
"Great, so how do we stop this thing without the big boom?"
"Hmmm," there was more typing as Wade's tongue stuck out just a little. "Looks like the power is gathering below the building, but it's being regulated and controlled from the very top. If you can get the Kimmunicator plugged in, I should be able to take control and get it to shut down."
"Nice, sounds like a plan." Kim nodded.
"Just be careful, I'm not reading any other movement in the area since the turrets appeared, but that doesn't mean there aren't any other surprises." A loud chirp in the background caused Wade's eyes to widen as his head swiveled to the other screen. "Oh, no, no, no, no." He briefly glanced back. "Sorry Kim1, I need to get back to Kim Alpha." With a blip, the screen vanished.
"Kim Alpha?" Kim mouthed. "I guess we know the ego of the team." With a shake of her head, Kim focused on the building. "Ok, it's go time." With a flip, the device was stowed away and Kim became a blur as she zipped from her hiding spot, rolling behind a run-down bus stop. She glanced from her new perspective, the windows glowed in time with the sparks from above. Whatever was happening, it was virtually an upside-down lighthouse now. Her eyes scanned the building, narrowing at the broken windows and faded graffiti scrawled all along its base as well as various bricks that littered the crumbled sidewalk.
"Evil scientist on a budget, Ron? You struck me as the overtly fancy type with a bunch of gadgets, not a shoestring budget. Gees, the whole building is listing and the front door is hanging off its hinges," Kim mumbled with a shake of her head.
"All sorts of inviting. Likely trapped from bottom to top. Fortunately, there's a handy shortcut," Kim said, taking out her blow drier. With one final glance for traffic, Kim rushed from hiding, zipping across the street. Pointing the device up, it fired a small harpoon that arched up and over. With a tug, she felt a solid connection. With another click, she was flying through the air, her feet lightly pushing off against the building as she rose. Five floors, ten floors, and then a sudden movement from her periphery caught her attention. A flick of light and she was in freefall. She grabbed the nearest window ledge. With a grunt, she climbed and sat on the ledge as the support cable fell past, its end red hot.
"Wonderful looks like a plasma gun." She chanced a glance above and saw a silhouette disappear from a window three stories above.
"Ok, not Ron. Didn't look robotic, but that doesn't mean much these days. Maybe a minion? I'll need to capture whomever they are for new leads as I doubt this is where Ron's hiding." Kim sighed as dust dislodged from her hair at the gesture. "Add bath to that list." She giggled with another shake of her head. "Today is just not my day all around," she mumbled with a leap to the windowsill beside her. A quick jump off that platform and she cleared two stories. Grabbing a hold of the railing for that window, she flipped the final story to slide into the same window as the figure.
Kim's nose wrinkled under the assault of rotten wood as her landing finished with a wet crunch. She grimaced as she found the floorboards riddled with termites. They teamed about even as the floor itself felt like it would give way at any moment.
Bile rose as she gagged at the sight. Her attention was thankfully distracted by her target darting out the door.
"And the chase is on," Kim murmured as she flipped through the air, landing directly on the doorway to avoid the damaged floor. Her head darted out and back as a bolt of light flashed past, she caught only the slightest impression of the figure darting around the right corner along the hallway. More importantly, she found strands of red hair floating by her nose. Squinting, she found razer wire glint from the periodic flashes from below. Looking further along, there was a veritable minefield of the stuff strewn up and down the hallway.
"Wonderful, all sorts of fun here. Looks like Mr/Ms. Whoever this is, wants me to chase them down a hallway filled with boobytraps while they get to calmly shoot at me. Quite the little funhouse, but what you didn't count on is that you're no longer guarding the window," Kim whispered.
With a leap back, Kim was outside and dashing between window ledges all the way up. Just as she cleared the rooftop, another bolt zipped by from behind.
"And the win goes to who? Me, that's who." Kim smiled as she rushed past the unmoving turrets. "looks like they were manually controlled as well." She barely glanced at them before a flare of light drew her attention to an opaque skylight. "Best to get to the source and deactivate everything."
Kim rushed to the skylight, her emerald eyes squinted against the flare of light from her destination. Blinking, the spots faded to reveal that directly below was another circular tube connected to the skylight continuing straight through the floor below. Something orange sat far at the bottom amidst metallic devices. She turned away as a second, more intense flash burst from the object. Once the light faded, she checked the floor below that surrounded the tube to find a multitude of computers interconnected with loose wiring to a primary terminal with a screen. The bulk of the screen was filled with a jumble of numbers and letters that flipped and switched moment by moment. One thing she did notice was a few numbers off to the side of the mess slowly counting down.
Kim shook her head. "Check one cliché evil genius control room with a handy countdown. This is starting to get so corny I may even get a big shiny red button labeled OFF. Now to get in."
She dug through her knapsack, pulling out her trusty laser lipstick. Taking one last look to make sure there was no movement below, she twisted the back. A laser popped out from the business end. Squinting, she set the laser to work, making a quick circle. She tapped at the glass only to hear a dull tinkle as it hadn't budged.
"Great, pick a dilapidated place that is literally falling in on itself and the one thing you chose to make laser-proof is the skylight," she mumbled.
"Wade, I've got some laser-proof glass to get through," Kim murmured, her eyes tracking the rest of the room, calculating how long it would take someone to run up a booby-trapped building safely.
"Little busy right now…uh… Kim1." Wade answered, glancing at her monitor.
"I'm seconds away from losing a critical location, a little help here."
Wade grunted as he mumbled to another screen before shifting to hers. With a few taps and a sharp hiss released from the lipstick, the back expanded with a notch. "Twist that to boost the power. Sorry, I need to get back to the others." Wade shouted, his screen going dark.
"Gees, I'm feeling jealous of…myself? This is going to end up as one heck of a psychiatric bill." With a tsk, the once small laser turned from yellow to deep violet. There was a hiss as it made contact with the glass. Slow minutes passed and yet there was not even a vapor trail to indicate any progress.
Kim twisted the laser pin causing it to stop. "What the devil is this stuff made of?" She wondered with a light stamp of her foot in frustration. She heard a crack and a quiet squeak escaped her lips before she fell through the roof.
She blinked amidst the cement debris raining down around her. "Ok, I guess that is one way to get in," she said, lightly rubbing her abused rear.
With a visible shake, Kim got to work, her eyes roved for any sign of a trap, but found none. She backed up to the primary terminal now counting down from five minutes. She slipped out the Kimmunicator once more.
"I Know you're getting a triple dose at the moment, Wade, but I need some help hacking in here."
"Wade?" she whispered after a moment of static, a small crack along one side from her recent impromptu entrance. "I know these had to be hotwired to get enough for everyone, but falling apart after a little action?" She shook the device as it shifted into black-and-white static slowly resolving to the familiar face of Wade. She saw his lips move but still no sound. She knocked the side with a sharp whack. "…I've got a few minutes now, what's up?" Wade's voice suddenly came through.
"I've gotten into the control room. I need you to hack in and get this shut down," Kim said, holding up the device to the primary console. "If we're lucky, we may be able to stop Ron's plans here and now."
"Sure thing, go ahead and plug me in and I'll take a look." Nodding, Kim turned the Kimmunicator around, forcing a side cover open to reveal a long cord with a USB connection at the end. With a sharp jerk, the cable came loose, the excess falling around her feet. Checking the back of the computer revealed an access port to plug it into. Wade's face disappeared as he went into action. Kim watched, always amazed at how a simple twelve-year-old could be so brilliant.
What she missed were the snake-like coils silently gliding over the floor behind her. Like a wraith, they extended from their alcove along the far wall. Her only warning was a rush of air and the next moment, Kim found herself aloft, both arms and legs restrained by handcuff-like tentacles.
"What the?" Kim cried looking back to find the length slowly retracting with her in tow. Kim grunted as she struggled, but found there was no give. Instead, she grabbed her satchel, pulling out the laser lipstick. With a flourish, she cranked the laser up to its max setting. Her eyes narrowed; she focused the intense beam onto the right manacle. Long seconds stretched only to find no telltale sign of red, much less her desired freedom. With a last tug, Kim was slammed against the wall sending the lipstick flying. Danger senses flared and a quick duck saved Kim from decapitation. She gulped as she realized just how close that had come.
She sighed before her nose twitched at a nasty smell. Glancing down, she found noxious fumes trickling up from the lipstick happily burning away the far wall. Another sound drew her attention as the Kimmunicator spasmed.
"Wha…" Wade's voice cut off as sparks shot out from the computer traveling down the cord and exploded on contact with the Kimmunicator. The device slammed against the far wall, smoke wafting from it amidst sparks.
The primary screen went blank, replaced with Ron's visage staring down at her.
"Ah, Kim Possible,"
"Ron…!" Kim exclaimed only to find that the figure did not react.
"It appears you've chosen the wrong location. Such a shame. I thought that the regular you would have managed to get a little further, but you seemed to have run into some difficulties." He paused with a wide smile.
Kim glanced at the edge of the screen where a red 'recorded' message blinked.
"You couldn't even bother to monologue at me yourself?" Kim sighed in frustration.
"…and don't worry, I spared no expense on your restraints. You'll find your standard equipment to be no match. You see, they're made of ditanioum, a recently discovered and very valuable ore. Forging it was difficult and time-consuming, but for you, it was worth the effort." A beeping in the background drew his attention, his face turned down into a slight frown beyond the camera. "Well, that's all for now. I have to clean up another one of your messes. Your handling has already been taken care of. Your babysitter has all the materials to make you nice and comfortable for your trip." The screens fizzled out, returning to their previous processes.
Kim continued to struggle, not budging a centimeter.
"Please do not resist, Possible-san, you may hurt yourself."
The girl's eyes snapped open. "I know that voice." Twin doors hissed open, allowing Yori to walk in wearing her standard black ninja suit though her head remained uncovered.
"Yori, what are you doing here? No, it doesn't matter. Help me get out of this. If we hurry, we can still get to Ron."
"I cannot," the Asian whispered, kneeling, with a quick flick of her wrist, the tube of lipstick turned off. Her nose wrinkled as she tapped a button causing vents along the sides of the ceiling to rumble to life, the fumes vanished in moments. With a nod of satisfaction, she returned her attention to Kim. "I have been tasked with watching over you for the time being." Yori bowed, before rummaging through a pouch at her side.
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me you're working for him?"
She paused briefly in her search to glance up at Kim. "Yes, Stoppable-san has hired my services," Yori replied.
Kim's expression darkened. "What do you mean 'hired my services'? This is Ron we're talking about. I may not know what's happening here, but you like him nearly as much as I do. What could convince you to work for an alter ego that defines himself as evil?" Kim cried her restraints the only thing keeping her from throttling the girl.
Restraints or not, Yori flinched at each word, abandoning her search to focus on Kim. "Sensei has said..."
"I don't care what Sensei said. I wasn't asking him. I was asking you. Why are YOU working for him?"
"To stop you, Possible-san. You are a danger to the world."
"Danger to the world," Kim whispered. "Did you stop to take a look around? That thing," Kim gestured with a nod to the flaring column. "Will destroy this city of countless innocents if it isn't disabled properly. I can't even begin to imagine the devastation if it succeeds in whatever Ron intends it to do."
"Do not worry, I am fully capable of disabling the device if the need arrives."
"Right, did he happen to mention that if the city followed protocol and turned off the power to this building, the device would have gone off already? Did it slip his mind that if that happened two hundred thousand lives would evaporate in a flash? Men, women, and children. All gone. You would have been an accomplice to the single largest loss of life since the bombing of Hiroshima."
Yori blinked, her eyes going wide as they darted out the nearest window, scanning the bustling city just beyond the dead zone. Her eyes reluctantly turned back, caught by piercing green.
"Can you really say that I'm the dangerous one right now?"
Yori's lips trembled as they stared into the depths of those emerald orbs. Her face was frozen in panic as if the girl could hear the countless screams rising in her ears. Yori clutched at her chest, breath coming in sudden gasps.
"Sensei… he has his reasons."
"Your Sensei had a reason? A reason so great he was willing to leave Ron to place innocent lives in danger? So important as to warrant shoving you into the driver's seat of possibly the worst catastrophe in humankind? Yet he didn't bother to tell you what they were?" Kim stopped; her gaze impossibly doubled in intensity.
"And you helped him."
Yori wrenched her gaze away, hiding tiny streaks of tears.
The room thrummed with the power below as Kim continued to stare. A bleep and the clock flipped to three minutes.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Yori," Kim said, her voice restrained, but steely. Yori's eyes avoided hers, staring out into the city
"Let me go now. Together we can save Ron."
"But Sensei..."
"TO HELL WITH SENSEI!" Kim snapped. "This has nothing to do with your Sensei. This is about you and you alone. What do you think is right, Yori?"
Yori slowly turned around, her shining eyes meeting Kim's. "I...I..."
"Two minutes until something worse than the death of this city happens."
Yori spun on her heels, her fingers flying across the panel, pressing a sequence of buttons.
Kim watched carefully, headless of the ever-increasing pulses of blinding light. Her eyes only widened when the clock on the main computer sped up.
"YORI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
The girl glanced back at her and then at the clock, her eyes going wide.
"I…I…this should work!" The girl's hands hovered over the keys; uncertainty was written over her features.
00:05:00
00:04:00
00:03:00
00:02:00
00:01:00
Beeeeeeep.
Yori dived through the entrance, steel slammed shut behind her as an unearthly roar rocked the building, the rooftop ceiling near glowed as a burst of light shot into the sky. Even with her eyes closed, all Kim could see was suffocating white, her skin burned against the enormous pressure.
The intensity pulsed against her. Her whole world was nothing but the endless searing white.
And then it was gone
The only sound left was a distorted high pitch scream.
Long seconds stretched before Kim realized came from her own throat.
Only when all the air left her did the scream cut off into gasps, leaving her hanging limply in her restraints amidst the charged air surrounding her.
"This, this should not have happened. Ron-san assured me this would disable the countdown."
Kim heard the voice through a deep ringing in her ears. Her head felt like lead as she struggled to raise her chin. Before her stood a blob of dark in a sea of white.
"What. Part. Of. Evil. Did you not understand?" Kim huffed between gasps.
The blur seemed to spin as if surprised she remained conscious.
"Possible-san."
"So, what. Now? Hand me over to the person that just committed god knows what genocide?"
"He…he said he can fix you."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha." Each rise and fall of her chest felt raw, white flakes of skin shedding with the motion. "And you still trust his word after all this?" Kim slumped; her energy was spent.
There was the sound of rapid footsteps going back and forth just beyond her vision.
"Dishonor." Kim heard in a bare whisper. "All there is, is dishonor. Myself, my school, and my country. I have dishonored them all."
"Help me, Yori. We can make this right."
"There is no right for me. There is only dishonor, Possible-san. I…I must go."
The blur vanished from Kim's fading vision. A beep in what felt like the far distance and Kim collapsed to the ground, her eyes fluttering closed, very much alone.
Author's End Notes: Big shoutout to DoctorDetroit. I honestly was going to kill the story after the last chapter received no reviews. It is very hard to justify putting hours into a piece of work with zero feedback. It feels like you're in a void when that happens. You can't improve. You can't see what problems you may have inadvertently introduced. You can't see unclear areas. It just leaves a sinking feeling that you've failed. DoctorDetroit took the time to message me directly with what he thought of the chapter and I can't say how much I appreciate the effort he took to help me by doing so.
Will the story continue? I don't know. It honestly depends on if it becomes more worthwhile.
