The Middleton Space Center is considered by many to be one of the most advanced in the nation. Despite its rather ordinary look and setting, the scientists working at the Center are on the cutting edge of space exploration technology. From new forms of rocket fuel and propulsion systems to advanced A.I.s for unmanned vessels and rovers, the staff works hard to get man to the stars that much sooner. While this is generally considered to be a team effort, there are those individuals that like to take more credit than they should.
One such person is Dr. Franklin McCoy. Though a recent hire to the Center’s Robotics Division, he brought with him a completely new A.I. program that would revolutionize the field. Much to the chagrin of his colleagues he not only knows how important his work is but boasts about it quite frequently. Needless to say this causes a great deal of animosity towards him from his co-workers and even though most of the work done at the Center is suppose to be top secret, a moment of alcohol fueled ranting and raving can lead to some secrets slipping out and entering the public arena known as rumors.
This was how the knowledge of Dr. McCoy’s latest breakthrough, the X-23 personality chip, was brought to the attention three dubious characters. Upon hearing of the chip, they knew it was the perfect thing they needed to complete their plans. They waited until nightfall when security was at its weakest before striking. Not that they really needed to wait as they would have run into the lab, grab the chip and exited before anyone could see them even at the security’s highest points, but they learned from past failures that desecration was called for in these instances.
So they stood in the darkness in the main lab of the Center’s Robotics Division, the only evidence of their presence was the soft, red glow of their eyes. They scanned over the desks and computer consoles until they spotted a large steel door on the other side of the room. They walked over to it in uniform precision, the sound of metal clanging against metal echoing throughout the lab as they did so.
When they reached the door, the figure on the far right stepped forward and inspected the number pad set into the wall next to the door. Its eyes then began to search through all visible spectrums until it was able to pick up the faint imprint of oil and skin from a human finger, revealing which numbers needed to be pressed to open the door. A blue, metallic hand glistened in the soft light of the lab as reached up for the pad and in the blink of an eye ran through all the possible combinations. A small “ping” sound rang out when the correct code was entered, followed quickly by the sound of air decompressing as the door slowly swung open. The three intruders stepped inside and the single light in the small room not only illuminated the pedestal holding the chip in its glass casing, but also revealed the thieves’ feminine forms. They gathered around the pedestal, synthetic blonde hair lightly bouncing with their every move. Though their faces were almost expressionless pieces of metal and their eyes simply lights, if someone were present they would swear they could see them looking at the chip in anticipation.
“The X-23 chip,” one of them stated matter-of-factly.
“With this powering our new queen, we will finally achieve our goal,” another one added.
“Yes, at long last…” the third started.
“Bebes will be perfect,” the finished in unison as their red eyes flashed menacingly.
Kim sighed contently as she leaned back into the couch and watched the TV. It was one of the few truly peaceful moments she’d had in about eight months. Not that her life wasn’t chaotic before then, but at that time she didn’t have to worry about being a parent or the fact that she was in a relationship with another woman. The fact that the woman she was in relationship with and who was carrying her baby-which was weird in and of itself-was her former arch rival made the situation even more extraordinary. But surprisingly enough she found herself adapting rather quickly to this new relationship. She and Shego had been an official couple for about a month now it was going rather well. Kim still had some reservations about it given how her last relationship ended, and she still adjusting to the idea of being with another woman. Shego’s natural playfully/flirtatious side didn’t do much to help matters, nor did the fact that it was amplified by her overactive hormones which lead her to suggest things Kim really wasn’t ready for.
It was the quite moments, like they one they’re having now, that helped Kim feel comfortable about their situation. While she sat on the couch, Shego laid down next to her with her head laying in the redhead’s lap. Her left hand was crossed over her breasts and holding the remote while her right dangled lazily off the couch. For her part, Kim was lightly stroking Shego’s soft, silky hair with her right hand while her left was gently caressing her plump stomach. In total it had been nine months since Shego first became pregnant and according to Dr. Anderson she was due any day now. Something that Shego was immensely happy about. It would be nice to do things on her own again without everyone making such a fuss over her. While that had been nice at first, it quickly grew tiresome and she just wanted to be a little more active and independent again. Plus she was curious to see what this thing she had been carrying all this time looked like.
They both gasped as they felt the baby kick.
“Quite a kick she’s got,” Kim said with a smile. “Maybe she’ll end up being a soccer player.”
Shego let out a loud, prolonged groan.
“What? What is it?” Kim asked, slightly panicked.
“You using that stupid cliche,” Shego retorted. “Why is it that every time a baby kicks someone has to make that joke?”
“Because most people know it as the only sport where you use your feet a lot,” the redhead offered.
“There’s also kick boxing, which knowing us, is far more likely for her than soccer.”
“True.”
“Besides, if she did go into soccer I wouldn’t let you coach her.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?” Kim asked indignantly.
Shego couldn’t help but smirk at the reaction. “Oh I’ve heard all about how you went crazy on those poor kids when you coached. Gotta say Princess, didn’t know you had it in your to be so cruel.”
“I was not that bad,” she huffed. “If the Tweebs told you this then they’re exaggerating to make me look bad.”
“Actually it was Ron.”
Kim faltered at that. “Well…I…still wasn’t that bad.”
“Way I hear it, the new coach yells at them and threats to cut off limbs and they still prefer him over you.”
The only response to that was the hand leaving Shego’s hair to rest on the couch. While she was a little disappointed at having the taken away, she still couldn’t help but smirk at her small victory. They may not be actually fighting anymore but there were still little competitions between them and she definitely won this round.
The fun was cut short by the familiar beeping of the Kimmunicator. Kim did her best to try and not disturb Shego as she fished around inside her pocket for the device. She flipped it on as soon as she found it and quickly held it up to her face.
“What’s the sitch, Wade?” she asked.
“Trouble at the Middleton Science Center,” he replied.
Kim’s face paled as a horrified look crossed her face.
“Is my dad alright?” she asked quickly.
“He’s fine,” Wade said calmly. “This hit came from a Dr. McCoy. He…well he’s pretty much demanding your help.”
After she let out a sigh of relief, Kim picked up on the choice of words.
“Demanding?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s very adiment about you helping him and finding his experimental chip.”
“Any idea what it is?”
“Nope,” Wade answered with a shake of his head. “He said he’d only tell you in person.”
“Alright. Well tell him I’m on my way and I’ll stop off and get Ron.”
“On it Kim.”
“Please and thank you,” she smiled before turning off the Kimmunicator. She then sighed and looked down at Shego. “Sorry, duty calls.”
Shego let out a small groan of protest before propping herself up on her shoulders so Kim could slide off the couch. Once she did, she placed a pillow where her legs had been to make Shego a little more comfortable.
“Lucky,” Shego muttered.
“Wha?” Kim asked.
“I said you’re lucky.”
“What you actually want to help people now?” Kim asked with a hint of amusement.
“I want to dosomething! I’m tired of just sitting around here all day.”
“Now there’s a surprise,” the redhead smirked before she stepped towards the couch and placed a hand on Shego’s stomach. “Just concentrate on having her first, then we’ll talk about you helping people.”
“Fine,” Shego huffed. “Don’t I at least get a kiss before you go?”
Kim shook her head a bit then held her head back with her left hand as she leaned forward and gave the pale woman a quick peck on the lips. She stood straight again and went back to walking towards her room to get ready for this latest mission. She just hope it’d be a quick and easy one as she didn’t want to run the risk of being half a world away while her daughter was being born.
Ron sighed as he stared at his Grande Sized Nacho combo meal. Usually just the sight of his own creation was enough to cheer him up, but at the moment the only one who was really enjoying it was Rufus. At least he could take some comfort in knowing it wasn’t going to waste. He wasn’t really sure why he ordered it as he wasn’t very hungry. It was more out of habit than anything else. Usually when he came here, he would order the combo meal then sit down and talk with…he sighed again and lowered his head.
“What’s wrong Ron Man?”
Ron lifted his head up to look at the person sitting across from him in the booth. The spot that was usually occupied by Kim was now taken by Felix Renton, the boy with the amazing cybertronic wheelchair which sat next to the table after he had position himself in the booth. While Ron was always happy to spend time with this other best friend, it just felt off not having Kim around as much.
“It’s nothing,” he tried to lie. “It’s just…”
“Still trying to wrap you brain around the whole Kim/Shego thing?” Felix ventured.
The blonde boy gave him a surprised look. “How did you-oh right you’re on my Friend’s List. But yeah that’s it. I mean…I know I promised Kim I’d still be there for her but it’s just weird not having her around all the time. Plus I still think those two together spells wrongsick.”
“Is it the fact she’s going out with another woman that’s got you freaked or the fact that it’s Shego?”
“Definitely the Shego thing. I mean, yeah I would have freaked if she had just been going out with another woman, but with the woman that’s tried to kill her! What kind of sense does that make! None, that’s what.”
“Well she is-”
Ron stopped his friend by holding up his hand.
“Please do not bring up the baby thing again,” he requested. “That’s what everyone says and it’s getting old.”
“But it’s true,” Felix countered.
“Still it’s old.”
“Yeah, old!” Rufus squeaked.
“Either way it’s a big change for her and you just gotta wait til she settles into it. After that I’m sure everything will go back to normal.”
“Things will never be normal again,” Ron muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Aren’t you the one that’s always saying ‘never be normal’?” Felix remarked with a grin.
The other boy flailed for an answered for a second before he narrowed his eyes at his friend.
“Curse your logic,” he growled.
Felix chuckled a bit as he picked up a nacho from his own meal. He waited until it was significantly chewed before speaking again.
“Now are you sure the real reason you’re freaking out isn’t because she’s moved on and you haven’t?” he asked.
Again Ron was silent for a moment before laying his elbows on the table and cradling his head with his hands.
“Honestly, that probably is it,” he admitted. “I’m just having a hard time accepting that she found someone else. Especially with how caught I still am with her. I thought maybe she’d be going through the same thing, but nope she just goes out and finds someone else.”
“Somehow I doubt it was as easy as that,” Felix said.
“Still it doesn’t change the fact that she had someone else and I don’t.”
“Then why not go out there and try to find someone for you?”
“Oh yeah, like it’s that easy!”
“Never know until you try. Why don’t you go talk to Tara? She seemed to like you.”
“Yeah liked,” Ron stressed the word. “As in use to and doesn’t anymore. Besides, she going out with Josh Monkey.”
“Monkey, phooey!” Rufus agreed.
“Actually I heard they broke up.”
Ron stared at Felix again.
“Don’t play me here Felix,” he warned.
“I’m dead serious,” he replied, holding his hand in a “Scouts Honor” gesture. “Keep in mind those this comes from the usual high school gossip bin so I have no idea how reliable it is.”
“Fair enough,” Ron nodded. “Still it’s something. Better than what I had before.”
“There you go. And if that doesn’t work out you can look up that Jen Credible girl again. I think I remember reading you said she was cute.”
“That is true, she was,” Ron mused as he rubbed his chin. “But I’m not sure how long I could handle all the supernatural demon stuff. It was really weird. Like worse than the Mystical Monkey Power stuff. And there were some times when she seemed a little too…intense.”
“How intense?” Felix asked.
“Kim soccer coach intense.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
The two lapsed into silence at that and went back to their meals. The talk seemed to help Ron regain his appetite, but unfortunately he still wasn’t able to enjoy his Naco as Kim walked through the door right as he took his first bite. Her purposeful stride up to the table told him that a mission had come up. Well that and the fact she was decked out in her mission gear.
“Hey KP,” he greeted, trying to sound cheerful. “Got a mission?”
“Yep,” Kim replied, as she placed a hand on the table and noticed the other person there. “Oh hey Felix.”
“Yo,” he replied with a small wave.
“So where are going?” Ron asked.
“Not far, something was stolen from the Middle Science Center and we need to talk to a scientist there before we can get it back.”
He nodded as he took two large bites out of his Naco, trying to enjoy as much of it as he could. As he chocked back the food, Kim noticed a strange look in his eyes that wasn’t his usual “shoving down a large amount of food” look.
“Ron, are you okay?” she asked.
No! I’m totally, completely miserable without you and I want you to dump Shego and take me back, he thought. After finishing his bites, he said aloud, “I’m fine KP.”
“You sure?” Kim asked again, not sounding convince.
No! “Yep, 100 OK.”
Kim stood straight with her arms crossed and glared down at him. She had a feeling he wasn’t being entirely truthful, but unfortunately didn’t have the time to talk it out right now.
“Then if we’re ready we can get going. I already stopped by your house and picked up some mission clothes for you. You can change on the way there,” she said.
“Alright,” he replied and turned to Felix. “Well hate to do this buddy, but you know, duty calls.”
“Eh, I’ll be fine,” Felix said with a dismissive wave. “Go on and save the world again.”
The pair smiled at him and said their goodbyes before turning and walking out of the fast food restaurant, Rufus jumping into Ron’s pocket as they did so. As he watched them leave, Felix wondered when or even if Ron would come clean about his lingering feelings for Kim. At the very least he wondered if it would have some effect on the mission.
I’m sure they’ll do fine, just like always, he tried to convince himself, but couldn’t help but shake his bad feeling.
The drive to the Middleton Science Center was uncomfortably quiet. The most noise either came from the radio or Ron’s struggle to change into his mission clothes in the back seat. Beyond that there was little to no talking between the two. Kim had a feeling it was because Ron was still adjusting to the idea of her and Shego and just didn’t want to talk about it. There was something else though, a hint of something she had spotted in his eye at Bueno Nacho. It was something she had seen a few times on their missions since her new relationship began and she had a sinking feeling she knew what it was. Unfortunately, since more of their recent time together was either in school or on missions, she really hadn’t been able to sit down with him and talk it through. She thought now might be a good time, but once she realized they were so close to the Science Center, she knew she had to get into “mission mode”. Before she did, however, she resolved herself to find time to have a long talk with Ron to get everything sorted out.
As they approached the entrance to the Center, they were met with a very familiar face.
“Kimmie Cub!” Dr. Possible greeted happily as he walked forward and gave her a fatherly hug.
“Hey dad, I’m glad you’re OK,” Kim replied as she returned the hug.
He gave her a perplexed look as he pulled back.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked.
“Well I just-” Kim stopped and shook her head. “Never mind. Can you take me to this Dr. McCoy? From what Wade told me he’s very…adamant about seeing me.”
“Oh yes, he is very…well I suppose ‘adiment’ is the most polite way to put it. Come on, I’ll show you to his lab.”
With that, he turned and walked back into the Center with the two teen heros following close behind. Having been there a few times before on mission, visits to her father, and more Rocket Boosters Club trips than she cared to admit, Kim knew her way around the main part of the Center fairly well. What she wasn’t that familiar with was the Robotics Division having only been there once before to help out who she thought was a robotics expert but really turned out to be a fraud. It all worked out in the end though when she helped reveal the real genius, Dr. Vivian Porter, and helped her get a job at the Center. And now here she was again, about to meet another genius with another robotics problem. At least that’s what she assumed it was since the details were rather sketchy at the moment, no doubt due to the top secret nature of this division. Dr. Possible stopped just before the rounded, metal double doors and turned back to his daughter.
“Well Kimmie Cub this is about as far as I can take you,” he said. “My clearance will get me in here but Dr. McCoy’s very particular about who he lets in. Besides I still have my own work to do. Gotta get back to those launch vectors and make sure a new shuttle isn’t going to crash.”
“It’s OK. I guess I’ll see you tonight at dinner then,” Kim said.
“You betcha,” Dr. Possible replied before he entered his code into the keypad to open the doors.
They slid open with a slight “whoosh” and after a final wave to her father, Kim and Ron walked into the lab. The scene they saw inside was one that would fit right at home in any scifi movie. The walls and floor were all steel gray color with everything looking clean and pristine. A handful of desks sat along the walls with dozens of flat screen computer monitors and laps set up on them while gears, circuits, and half finish robots sat on things that looked like metal beds. Some where human shaped by most of them were insect like. Ron let out an impressed whistle as he took it all in.
“Wow, I bet Wade would have a field day in here,” he joked.
“Actually, knowing Wade this would probably be pretty mundane to him,” Kim countered.
“Who’s there?” a voice called out from behind one of the larger parts of machinery.
“Kim Possible. I got a hit from a Dr. McCoy saying he needed my help,” she called out.
“Well it’s about time!” the man shouted as he stepped into the light.
Kim recoiled a bit from the unexpected outburst. Out of all the ways people have greeted her over the years, that was definitely the rudest. Once she recovered she took a moment to look the man over. Like almost everyone in the Center he was wearing a white lab coat with a few pens and a small notebook shoved into the breast pocket. Underneath the coat he simple dark red business shirt with black slacks, all fitting rather loosely to try and hide the fact that wasn’t in the best of shape. While hardly over weight, from what Kim could tell he could stand to get out of the lab more often. He set the piece of equipment he was working on down and walked over to them, the soft lights of the lab reflecting off his short, black hair and revealing that is was already beginning to recede even though he was only in his mid 30s. He stopped just in front of her and seemed to be giving her and Ron the same evaluative look that she was giving him. His hazel colored eyes looked at her skeptically as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“So you’re Kim Possible, huh? From the way your father talks about you I was really expecting more,” he mused.
“Moving right along,” Kim said, ignoring the thinly disguised insult, “you told Wade that some kind chip had been stolen?”
“Yes the X-23 chip. It’s my life’s work so you understand I’m a little anxious to get it back.”
“So what’s it do?” Ron asked.
“It thinks,” Dr. McCoy simply stated.
“It thinks?” Kim and Ron asked in unison as they looked towards each other.
“Yes it thinks. Or rather the programing inside it allows it to think.”
“Isn’t that was A.I. is suppose to do?” Kim asked.
“Not like this,” the doctor remarked, holding up a correcting finger. “You see, most A.I. is programmed to react to its environment and learn from those experiences. Now while the X-23 does operate on that same basic principle it’s also designed to…predict certain actions. Make guesses as to what might happen. Basically it’ll give any machine or robot it’s plugged into the same capabilities as this,” he pointed to his head.
“You’re head?” Ron asked.
Dr. McCoy gave him a “You’ve got to be kidding” look. “No the brain. Basically what I’m doing with this chip is creating life.”
“Well no offense Dr. but women have been doing that for millions of years,” Kim pointed out.
He shook his head incredulously. “Nobody understands my work.”
“It’s not that we don’t understand it Frank, it’s that you present it the wrong way,” a new voice spoke up.
Kim and Ron turned towards the sound of the rather familiar voice and saw exactly who they expected to see walking into the room; Dr. Vivian Porter. Like Dr. McCoy she had a white lab coat on but it was over a light blue low cut T-shirt and a more professional looking skirt than the last one Kim had seen on her. The red head smiled as she walked up to the blonde woman.
“Dr. Porter. It’s good to see you again,” she greeted with a hand outstretched.
“Please just call me Vivian,” the scientist replied as she took the offered hand and shook it.
“So what have you been up to Vivian?” Ron asked, as he stepped forward and offered his own hand.
“Oh about the same,” she replied, shaking his hand. “Working on upgrade for Oliver, trying to get my colleagues to take me seriously and mostly trying to keep Frank here in line.”
“I do not need to kept in line,” Dr. McCoy protested.
“You ran off most our interns just this past month!” Vivian protested.
“They were getting in the way! How they even managed to get this far is amazing. They could barely understand the basic algorithms of the code and don’t even get me started on their lack of knowledge on motor control functions.”
“See what I mean?” the blonde muttered to Kim.
“Uh…sure,” Kim replied, feeling completely lost in the conversation.
“Let’s just say I miss Dr. Freeman.”
“Oh yes, Dr. Freeman, the man who decided to give a toaster a personality,” Dr. McCoy sniped.
“Hey, he also invented a talking, self driving car!” Ron pointed out.
“Good for him, he invented a sister to the car from ‘Night Rider’. I, however, design something that could be first major break through in the 21st Century and I get ignored cause I don’t have ‘people skills’. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it considering the fact that we’re working with robots.”
“Maybe we should just get back to the matter at hand,” Kim suggested.
“Of course. Follow me and I’ll show you the vault,” the doctor said before he turned and headed for another part of the lab.
Kim and Ron shrugged at the name “the vault” but followed him after saying a quick goodbye to Vivian. When they reached the far end of the lab they did in fact find something that very much resembled a bank vault right down to the heavy steel door which was currently swung open. Dr. McCoy stood next to a small pedestal as he waited for them to enter.
“Well here it is, or rather were it was,” he said, gesturing towards the pedestal.
Kim placed her hands on her knees as she leaned forward to examine the structure.
“I take it the chip was sitting in something, right?” she asked, glancing up at the scientist.
“Yes, we kept it in a hyperbolically sealed glass container to keep it clean. It was suppose to keep it safe, but obviously that didn’t really work out.”
“Don’t you have all sorts of alarms and stuff on it to keep that from happening?” Ron asked.
“Does he always ask the stupid questions?” Dr. McCoy muttered towards Kim. Before she could answer though, he spoke up again. “Yes, there are security measures in place but they were all shut off. Which is what makes this situation really strange because they weren’t shut off by any of our people and the subroutines are designed to set off another alarm system if one of them is tampered with. So to be able to shut them all off without tripping one would require an impressive amount of speed.”
“Speed?” Kim asked with a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach.
“Yes, speed.”
“Doctor, is there a security camera in here?”
“Of course. In fact there’s even a monitor built in here somewhere.”
He turned to the row of drawers behind him and skimmed over their numbered labels until he found the right one.
“Ah, here it is,” he mused as he pulled it open.
Immediately a small monitor and control panel popped up and Kim and Ron walked over to it as Dr. McCoy began to call the security feed.
“I did check it earlier and found something rather…interesting. It’s only there for a second, but still…” he said as he stopped the tape at the right after the door had been opened and three figures stepped inside. “There! This is the reason I called you in.”
Kim’s eyes narrowed as her suspicions were confirmed. Although the playback as in black and white and slightly grainy, she would recognize those three anywhere.
“The Bebes!” she exclaimed.
“The Bebes? Aw, man I thought you destroyed them!” Ron complained.
“Me too. But I guess some of them got away.”
“Those things are harder to kill than cockroaches.”
“Yeah! Roaches!” Rufus added as he poked his head out of Ron’s pocket.
“So then you know them,” Dr. McCoy stated.
“Unfortunately,” Kim remarked. “They were created by my archenemy Dr. Drakken to be some kind of perfect weapon or something.”
“I thought they were designed to be his girlfriend?” Ron asked.
“I think that was just in college.”
Dr. McCoy cast a weird look between the two teen heros before clearing his throat to draw their attention.
“So what do you think they want with my chip?” he asked.
“Well, last time we fought them they were looking for a new queen to rule their hive mind. You know, like bees. Maybe they decided if they can’t find a queen then they could just build one.”
“And try to use the X-23 chip to give her a personality,” the scientist surmised. He the got a very horrified look on his face. “Uh-oh.”
“‘Uh-oh’? What’s ‘uh-oh’? Man I don’t want to be hearing any ‘uh-oh’s! Those are never good!” Ron shouted spastically.
“Well, keep in mind this is just a theory, but if they wanted to use the chip to give their queen a personality they would have to set their moral code to coincide with theirs.”
“What do you mean?” Kim asked.
“Like I explained earlier the chip can give any computer or robot a very close facsimile of life. But at it’s very basic core it’s still a computer chip and still needs to be programed. I haven’t gotten that far yet so it’s still a blank. Obviously I would have set the program to obey the laws of society; no killing, no stealing, how to act in a public setting, things like that. But if they figure out how to program the chip to be…more of less evil if you want to simplify things then it could be very…bad.”
“How bad?”
He seemed to think about it for a second. “Oh God, Oh God, we’re all going to die?” he offered.
Kim stared at him for a second before spinning around on her heel and whipping out the Kimmunicator as she exited the vault.
“Wade we got a sitch here,” she spoke up after switching it on.
“What’s up?” Wade asked, catching the urgency in her voice.
“The Bebes are back. Do you still have a pair of those super fast shoes?”
“Actually I have one better. Stop by and I’ll show it to you.”
“‘Stop by’? As in go to your house!” Ron asked excitedly.
“Amp down Ron,” Kim said. “Wade, we’ll be there as quickly as we can.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Kim nodded then turned off the Kimmunicator before returning it to her pocket. She turned back to Dr. McCoy again and gave him her best “Everything’s going to be fine” look.
“Don’t worry Dr. McCoy, we’ll get your chip back before the Bebes have any chance to use it,” she tried to convince.
“Then you should be going. Now. Very quickly,” he said, gesturing them to leave.
Kim finally let her annoyance get to her and she cast him an angry glare before she and Ron started to walk out of the lab. She barely noticed Vivian passing them as the red head stormed out, leaving the attractive scientist to shake her head in amusement as she walked up to Dr. McCoy.
“So what’d you do now?” she asked playfully.
“Nothing!” he replied, a bit too quickly and loudly. “Everything’s going to be fine. They’ll get the chip back and we’ll get right back to work as if nothing ever happened.” He turned away from her to add under his breath, “I hope.”
Miles away from the Science Center on the other side of town, stood the warehouse district of Middleton. Most of the buildings there were from the town’s industrial period from the corner of the century and had long since been abandoned in favor of sturdier, more heathy places to work. The only reason they had not been torn down already was because the Historical Society was in a heated battle with the city council to get the area label as a historic landmark.
Unfortunately, this of “preserving history” was endangering the future of Middleton’s citizens as well as the rest of the world. Since the buildings looked old and dilapidated on the outside, no one ever thought to check on the insides. Which is exactly what the occupants of one of the buildings counted on as they set it up to be their new base, or as they called it “The Hive”. Inside the run down exterior were brand new metal walls and floors, each decided to resemble those of a bee hive. In the middle of the wharehouse’s main section stood a large assembly line that seemed to be putting itself together. In reality, it was being constructed by three robots that moved faster than the human eye could see, so to any on looker it would appear to be building itself.
Slightly removed from the construction, in a separate part of the building a figure sat perfectly still in the dark. Like those that had created it, the figure was humanoid and feminine but exuded a confidence and power that they seemed to lack. It was what they desired, a perfect queen to lead them. Although she was chronologically only a few hours old, she already knew more than most humans learn in their lifetime. This great knowledge came to her thanks to a combination of advanced circuitry that made up her brain as well as the wires plugged into the back of her neck from her throne that provided her with Internet access. As she mentally scrolled through thousands of pages per second, she couldn’t help but marvel at how amazingly easy the humans made it for her to learn of their history. It was information she planned to put to great use.
Her browsing was interrupted by the rhythmic sound of three set of metal feet clanging against the metal floor. She stopped her browsing and retracted the wires before she leaned back into the throne and regarded the three Bebes who had given her life and now obeyed her every command.
“Speak,” she ordered as her red eyes flashed.
“The Bebe assembly line is complete my queen,” the middle Bebe informed. “Production of The Hive is already well underway.”
“Excellent,” the queen replied. “Now that you have completed that task I have another mission for you.”
“We are at your command,” the three spoke as one.
“I know, and I am grateful for that. Now, during my searching of the humans’ Internet, and its subsidiary the In-Terror-Net, I have learned that our biggest threat is a girl named Kim Possible.”
“Yes, we have battled her twice before,” the Bebe on the left spoke up.
“And she has beaten us twice before,” the Bebe on the right added.
“I know,” The Queen said, a hint of anger and disappointment in her voice. “But that shall soon change. There are certain factors that work in our favor this time. You not only have me to command you but there is also the fact that her once former enemy Shego is now living with her and caring her child. From what I have gathered humans will go to great lengths to protect their young. We shall use this response to lure Kim Possible into a trap and Shego shall be our bait. I also wish to study this child as I understand such a coupling is very…unique. I believe it may hold secrets that we can use to improve ourselves further.”
“But Bebes are now perfect. We have you to lead and guide us. We do not need anything else,” the Bebe in the middle spoke again.
“There are always ways to improve oneself. You may have me to guide you but we are all still far from perfect. But rest assured we will reach our goal soon enough,” The Queen mused. “Now go, bring me Shego. And while you’re out, bring me the creator as well. I want him to see what his hard work has accomplished.”
“By your command,” the Bebes said in unison before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
A small smile played across The Queen’s face as her workers went out to accomplish their tasks. She could hear the soft hum of the assembly line and feel it as every new Bebe unit came online. Soon, very soon now they would be ready to show the world their new found power.
The drive over to Wade’s house was a little more exciting than the one to the Science Center if for no other reason than Ron’s eagerness to see Wade in person once again. While the boy genius did get out of his room a little more since the whole incident with Team Impossible, he still preferred to stay inside and talk to them via the Kimmunicator or the postal service if he had to actually send them something. So Kim could see how Ron would get so excited at actually having to go to Wade’s house for a gadget and truth be told she was a little excited herself. It did seem like sort of a special occasion, she just wished it was under better circumstances.
When they arrived at the address Wade had given them, they were surprised at how…normal it looked. It was fairly modest one story home that would fit in perfectly with anyone’s idea of a suburban home. It certainly didn’t seem like the kind of place a super genius would live in, not even a ten-year-old super genius.
“You sure this is the right place?” Ron asked as the car slowly pulled into the driveway.
“Yeah, this is the address he gave me,” Kim said, looking just as skeptical as him. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
After she parked the car, the two got out and approached the house cautiously, as if expecting someone to jump at them with a shot gun and yelling at them to “Get off their land”. Thankfully when the door opened the smiling face of Wade’s mother greeted them.
“Hi Kim, hi Ron,” she happily greeted them.
“Hi Mrs. Load,” the two teen greeted back.
“You can come on in, but you might have to wait a bit. Wade’s already talking to someone else in his room right now,” she explained as she stepped aside and motioned for them to come in.
“Someone else?” they asked in unison as they stared at each other in disbelief.
Once they got over the surprise, they stepped inside and followed Mrs. Load down a hallway lined with family pictures as well as various prizes and accolades Wade had won over his young life. Even Kim was impressed by it all and it was easy to forget that the person they’re going to see was a ten year old boy. Still it helped to emphasize to her that Wade wasn’t just one of her close friends but also one of the best tools she had in her fight against the bad guys. She just hoped her new relationship wouldn’t put a strain on their friendship. He seemed okay with it for the moment, but given that he seemed to be able to look up anything about anyone anywhere, she wondered if maybe he wasn’t still following Shego’s activities just to be sure.
Her thoughts were caught off when Wade’s mother suddenly stopped in front of them, and Kim had to use every bit of her finely honed agility to keep from bumping into the woman. Thankfully she recovered without either Mrs. Load or Ron seeming to notice and felt grateful that she had been spared that bit of embarrassment.
“Well here you are,” Mrs. Load said, gesturing to a door at the end of the hallway. “That’s Wade’s room, but like I said you might have to wait a bit-”
Her words were cut off when the door opened and an African-American woman dressed in a dark grey business suit stepped out. Before fully stepping into the hallway she turned back around to address Wade one more time, her long brown hair flowing behind her as she did so.
“I really wish you’d reconsider Mr. Load. Eureka could really use someone of your talents,” she said.
“Please just call me Wade Agent Blake,” the boy replied. “And I’m sorry, it definitely sounds like a nice place but I like it here for now.”
“Fair enough. But if you do change your mind give us a call.”
“Will do.”
She smiled as she shook his hand one last time before turning and walking down the hallway, giving a quick goodbye and thanks to Mrs. Load and a respected nod in Kim and Ron’s direction. It was only when she passed by did Kim notice the Department of Defense page clipped to the left breast of the woman’s jacket. She did a double take then walked up to Wade in a bit of a daze.
“What was…?” she asked, trying to think of how to ask the question.
“Sorry Kim, can’t talk about it,” Wade replied, holding his hands up and shaking his head. “Classified stuff.”
“Al-right,” Kim accepted, albeit reluctantly. “So what did you want to show me?”
“Come on in and I’ll show you.”
“Whoa, wait. Not only do we get to go to Wade’s house but always in his room?” Ron asked in astonishment. “His private sanctuary? His secret lab where makes all his secret inventions?”
“Gee Ron, when you put it that way you make me out to be some kind of mad scientist or something,” Wade remarked with a slight blush.
“Well I wouldn’t say ‘mad’ more like…well adjusted scientist.”
“How about just a friend who likes to help out?” Kim suggested.
“Yeah that works,” Ron admitted.
“Now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, Wade I believe you had something to show me?” she asked, turning back to the computer genius.
“Right this way Kim,” Wade replied, leading them into his room.
What they found inside more then met their expectations of how the young super genius lived. The familiar central hub he always spoke to them from sat at the far end of the room while cables ran across the floor connecting it to other computers sitting in various places throughout the room. Half of the floors and walls were painted black with a yellow grid pattern indicating the holo-suite he had used to take his mother to “the beach” during Mother’s Day. The only thing that looked mostly normal was the bed space, which was surprisingly plain. A mid-sized bed sat tucked into the corner with a night stand next to it, a dresser nearby and a large double door closet toping things off. What did set it apart from other homes were the many half finished gadgets strewn about.
“I think you’re right KP,” Ron said as he looked around, “the lab at the Science Center has nothing on this place.”
“Told you,” Kim smirked.
“Uh…is this something I should know about?” Wade asked, suddenly feeling self conscious.
“It’s nothing,” she waved it off. “Now you said you wanted to show me something that would help me fight the Bebes?”
“Right. Stay right there,” he ordered then walked over to the closet.
He slide one of the doors open and after a bit of fishing around, pulled out an article of clothing with a protective wrap over it. When he walked back over to Kim and Ron he held onto the hanger and unzipped the covering in a dramatic fashion to reveal a white body suit with a light blue stripe running across the upper torso as well as a few stripes on the arms. A belt the same color as the stripes hung over off the hanger as well.
“Dude, the super suit!” Ron blurted out. “I remember that from the time we…uh…”
He paused and looked over at Kim, who looked back at him. Though he didn’t complete his sentence they both knew what he was going to say and the residual feelings it dredged up.
“Um…the time we fought the Li’l Diablos,” he finished lamely.
An uncomfortable silence enveloped the group afterwards. While Wade merely fidgeted around nervously, Kim and Ron were mentally kicking themselves for how they’re feeling. After all this time, and given what’s happened recently, they thought they had gotten over everything. Or at least Kim did, Ron still wasn’t sure quite how he felt.
“Anyway,” Wade spoke up, breaking the silence, “after the Li’l Diablos mission I went back and made some upgrades to the suit. One of which included adding in the circuitry from the super speed shoes so you can move as fast as you did when you had them, but it’s much more controlled now. No more getting stuck in hypertime.”
“Spankin’,” Kim mused as she took the suit from him. “Anything else I should know about?”
“Just a few things to enhance your natural agility, endurance, strength, things like that.”
“Strength?”
“Well you won’t be able to throw cars around, but you should be able to lay out a few robots without feeling the effects.”
She smirked. “That’s definitely going to come in hand. So do you have anywhere I can change?”
“Bathroom’s right over there,” Wade said, pointing to a second door in his room.
“Thanks,” she said then turned and started to walk towards it. She stopped about midway when something occurred to her. “Wade, you don’t have any cameras set up in there do you?”
Wade cringed and let out a disgusted groan. “Ew, no! That’s the last place I’d want a camera.”
“I was just checking since you seem to have one everywhere else.”
“Kim please, I’m not that interested in what people are doing.”
She nodded then walked into the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind her. Ron stared at the door for a second before he turned to Wade with a conspirtious look on his face.
“So…you really don’t have cameras set up in there, right?” he asked, secretly hoping the answer would be “Yes”.
Wade just shook his head in disgusted and walked back over to his central hub to start looking for where the Bebes might be hiding out now.
“What? I was just curious,” Ron remarked.
After Kim left, Shego tried to find something interesting to watch but the monotony daytime television combined with the fact she had to get up to pee every ten minutes quickly knocked her out. So once again she was asleep on the Possible family couch with the remote clutched in her left hand with her right hand dangling off the side. She was in such a deep sleep that she failed to sense the presence of the two sets of eyes staring intently at her belly or the mischievous boys they belong to. Jim and Tim stood fixated on the large protrusion as if it were an egg from alien creature ready to hatch.
“So what do you think it’ll look like?” Jim asked as he gave Shego’s stomach a tentative poke.
“Well it’s suppose to have half of Kim’s DNA, right?” Tim asked back, also poking the stomach. “So we can bet on it being half ugly.”
They snickered at the joke at their sister’s expense then went back to their “evaluation”.
“Yeah but it’s also going to have half her DNA,” Jim countered, pointing a thumb at the still sleeping Shego. “So that means it might be all mutatey and stuff.”
“Yeah like having her powers,” Tim said excitedly.
“Or like four arms and eyes and things like that!”
“Who knows what it might be!”
“I do,” a new voice spoke.
The two twins slowly turned their heads to see a now fully awake Shego glaring down at them angrily. They gulped nervously and began to slowly back away.
“She’s going to be a girl with two less uncles unless you leave me the hell alone!” Shego growled as she took a swipe at them with her right hand.
They each let out a yelp of terror as they jumped back and quickly fled the room. Shego struggled to pulled herself off the couch to chase them, but by the time she finally got to her feet it didn’t seem worth it.
“Oh well, might as get something to eat while I’m up,” she muttered to herself.
Unfortunately, before she could even left a foot a loud crash filled the house and at first she thought the twins had run into something in their desperate escape from her. That theory was quickly proven wrong when three blue skinned, blonde female robots dressed in black leotards appeared before her.
“What the hell!” she cried out in surprise as she tried to take a fighting stance.
“Shego, you are to come with us by order of our queen,” one of the robots spoke.
“Sorry but I’m gonna have to decline that invitation,” she remarked, igniting her hands. She then gasped when it finally clicked as to why they looked so familiar. “Wait a minute, I know you. You’re those stupid robots Drakken built cause he couldn’t get a date.”
“Negative,” another of the Bebes spoke. “We are the newer models built to exact revenge on those who mocked Dr. Drakken.”
“Because he couldn’t get a date in college,” Shego surmised. “So he built your predecessors to go to some dance with him and even that didn’t work out. Trust me, I’ve heard the story more than I can to admit. So what, this also some kind of revenge thing for me leaving him?”
“No, we do not work for one so imperfect anymore,” the third Bebe spoke. “We serve a new queen and she demands we bring you to her.”
“Well good luck trying cause I ain’t doing down without a fight.”
“Yes,” the first Bebe started then seemed to disappear, “you are.”
Shego let out a shocked gasp when she noticed the voice was now right next to her left ear. She turned her head to find the robot standing behind her and holding her hands to her back. When she tried to break the hold she realized that her hands weren’t just being held but actually locked into some kind of shackle.
No! I won’t be taken prisoner again! her mind screamed.
Her instincts called out for her to do a back flip that would launch her over the demented robot and help her regain her footing. But as has been the case in recent months her body simply couldn’t meet those demands anymore. So instead she continued to try and either break or pick the lock to her shackles.
“You’re resistence is futile,” the Bebe behind her spoke. “You are coming with us one way,” she paused to bring a hand up and strike Shego across the back of the head hard enough to knock her out, “or another.”
“Mission accomplished. Subject Shego has been captured. We must now return to the Hive,” another of the Bebes ordered.
The remaining two nodded in confirmation and after the one holding Shego picked her up, they each disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. After several seconds of stillness, Jim and Tim poked their heads into the living room from the hall’s archway and looked for any signs of the robots.
“Looks like they’re gone,” Jim said.
“With Shego,” Tim pointed out.
“Yeah. One of us is gonna have to tell Kim.”
“Yep.”
They paused.
“You do it!” they shouted in unison, pointing at each other.
Kim tugged a bit at the tight fabric of the super suit as she walked out of Wade’s bathroom.
“Wade, are you sure you didn’t wash this thing work or something? It seems tighter than before somehow,” she said as she flexed her arms and fingers.
“It looks good to me,” Ron mused while his eyes moved up and down her body.
“I’m sure it does,” Kim tried to sounded annoy but she was more bemused than anything.
“I think you just need to get use to it again, but it should do fine,” Wade said from the chair in his hub. “Oh and I think I know where the Bebe’s are.”
“Nice going Wade. So where are they?” she asked, walking up to look at the monitor.
“Believe it or not, they’re actually in Middleton.”
“I don’t believe it,” Ron retorted.
“You’re about to. Seems like they’re some small energy spikes in one of the supposedly abandoned warehouses down at the Pier. Here let me show up.”
Wade quickly punched up the information on the warehouse, including the address and an old photo of it. Kim and Ron’s eye went wide when they saw it.
“Say isn’t that…” Ron asked, letting the question dangled.
“The warehouse were Shego first told me she was pregnant,” Kim confirmed with a nod.
“Wow, what are the odds?”
“Well if you’re really want to know,” Wade offered.
“Nope, that was totally a rhetorical question.”
“Well in any case, this looks like the best place to start,” Kim said.
“Before you go let me give you one last thing,” Wade spoke as he pulled up a drawer to his desk and pulled out a red, gun like device. “I also managed to rebuild the EMP gun. It’s still only single shot but I think it should help against robots.”
“Thanks again Wade,” Kim replied as she took the EMP gun and tucked it into the holster on right hip. “So if there’s nothing else we should get going.”
Before any of them could say else the phone began to ring. Wade looked at it suspiciously because the line that was ringing belonged to a number he had only given to Kim and Ron. He looked up at them only to find them looking back at him equally surprised. Cautiously he reached out and picked up the phone.
“Hello?” he asked unsurely.
He let out a sigh of relief when he heard two familiar voices.
“Hey guys, what’s up? Uh huh, she’s standing right here do you want to-” Wade suddenly stopped his question and panicked expression crossed his face before he glanced over at Kim. “Guys I really think you two should-” Again he stopped but this time it was because a dial tone took replaced the voices.
Oh they are going to pay for that, he thought menacingly.
He hung up the phone and slowly, carefully turned towards Kim. He swallowed nervously as he tried to think of the best way to break the news to the fiery tempered red head. Unfortunately, he was never really good at these kinds of situations and could only think of the direct approach.
“Kim that was your brothers,” he started. “It seems the Bebes broke into your house and…kinda…took Shego.”
He and Ron both flinched, expecting some kind of verbal or physical outburst. Instead she simply stood there with a blank expression on her face. The two boys looked at each other for a second before Ron carefully stepped forward and waved a hand in front of her face.
“KP? Kim? Hello, Earth to Kim Possible,” he said.
“No,” came the small whispered reply.
“No, what?” Ron tried again.
“I-I failed her again,” Kim continued though she seemed to be talking to herself. “I cant’ believe I let it happen again. I just…NO!” she narrowed her eyes as she came out of her daze and looked intently at Wade. “Wade, how do I work this super speed thing?”
“Uh, you just push the center button on the belt. Should work after that,” the young genius replied.
“Good,” she said as she reached for the button.
“Wait!”
“What!” she snapped.
“I had to make a few changes to the speed system when I modified it to fit the super suit’s systems.”
“Which means…?”
“It means that you will be able to run fast, but it also drains the suit’s power. So you have to conserve it and use it only when you absolutely need to.”
Kim glared at him for several seconds before she finally lowered her hand with a reluctant sigh.
“Fine,” she growled. “But we need to get going now. Come on Ron.”
“Uh…shouldn’t we make sure this is the place or get more info on the suits new powers or something first?” Ron asked.
“No. We’re going. Now!”
She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of Wade’s room, barely muttering a proper goodbye to the boy and his mother as she made her way to the car. Once inside, she pulled out of the driveway as fast as she could, switched the car into “Drive” and hit the road with a fury she had never known before.
Ron tried not to scream as the Possible family car wove in and out of evening traffic. He had his seatbelt buckled as tightly as it could go and held onto the handle above the door for dear life, finally understanding its nickname of the “Oh Shit! Bar”. He had never known Kim to drive his widely before, but then again be rarely saw her this determined before. It went way beyond “Coach Kim” and into an even scarier place that he had only seen once before. Ironically it was while fighting Shego after finding out her prom date Erik was a Synthodrone. Now that anger and focus was turned towards the ones that had kidnaped Shego and robots or not, he felt extremely sorry for them. He just hoped Kim still have enough sense in her not get too hurt and that he’d have enough strength to be there to stop her if she didn’t. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she sometimes needed him to be there to save her from herself and despite whatever he might be feeling he was still going to do that no matter what.
He jerked forward a bit as the car came to an abrupt stop. Once he forced his stomach to settle down he looked out the window and realized they were near the warehouse that was suppose to be the Bebe’s latest hive. In spite of the near heart attack inducing ride he had to admit that made great time. Hell they probably couldn’t have gotten there any faster if Kim has used the super speed option.
“So what’s the plan?” he asked as he undid his seatbelt.
“Simple, we go in, get Shego, destroy every last Bebe there is and get out,” Kim said in an authoritative tone that left no room for questions.
“Okay,” Ron replied as they each got out of the car. “Just one tiny question. How do we get in?”
Kim answered that question by running towards the nearest outside door at top speed. She leapt for it halfway and knocked down the door with a devastating flying kick.
“Guess that answers that question,” Ron muttered as he looked down at Rufus.
“Yeah,” Rufus replied, feeling as anxious as his human friend.
They followed Kim inside the warehouse and were completely blown away by the difference from the outside to the inside. Everything was covered in panels that resembled bee hive compartments with a few wires running loose here and there. Still for something that had to be constructed quickly and quietly it was really impressive. He shrugged it off and caught up with Kim, who was stalking through the complex with the look of someone who owned the place.
“So any idea where we’re going?” he whispered.
“Nope,” Kim whispered back.
“Any idea on how many Bebes there are now?”
“Nope.”
“Any hope of maybe coming up with a plan before we run into them?”
“Nope.”
“Well, nice to know where we stand,” he quipped, feeling less and less confident about this mission by the second.
Shego let out a soft groan as she slowly began to come around. Her eyes fluttered open and after a few seconds cleared up to where she could see her surroundings. What she saw she didn’t like. She was standing in some kind of throne room surrounded by a dozen or so Bebe robots, two of which were right at her sides guarding her. Even if she wasn’t nine months pregnant it would still be tricky to get out of here and given that she was indeed that far along in her pregnancy she wasn’t feeling entirely sure about her abilities. Still, she wasn’t about the play the helpless hostage once again. There was a way out, she just had to find it. She glanced between the two robot at either of her side and noticed they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her. Very discretely she tried to light up her plasma powers to see if she could use them to melt through the shackles holding her hands behind her back. At the very least it would give her escape plan a start. Unfortunately, it seemed the bonds were holding back her powers.
“Don’t bother,” a voice spoke from the side of the room. “Those shackles were designed to neutralize your powers.”
Shego let out a frustrated sigh. “What are they selling these things at Smarty Mart now?”
“Ah, the infamous Shego wit I’ve heard so much about.”
“Yeah and just who are you?”
The answer came in the form of a series of lights clicking on all at once, temporarily blinding the pale woman. When she finally got use to the new light source, her head was forcibly turned towards the direction the voice had come from. What she saw was a tall, grey metal thrown perched atop a small set of stairs with a red carpet leading up to it. Sitting quite smugly on that thrown was another robot designed in the same vain as the Bebes but with some subtle and not-so-subtle differences. On the not-so-subtle side was her manner of dress. Whereas her subjects seemed to dress in a black, two pair gym outfit, their queen was dressed in almost head-to-toe black leather body suit that left only her hands and a bit of her neck exposed. It was topped off with a pair of black, knee high boots and a PVC corset highlighting her “feminine attributes”. A small patch of black sheer cloth hung off the back of it to form a half skirt that fell down to her shins. The only part of her outfit that wasn’t black was the steel grey crown sitting atop her head. At last Shego thought it was a crown, it looked more like a curved “M” on her face with two point sticking up above her forehead to resemble horns and two blades hugging the side of her face and coming to a stop at her chin. A red jewel sat in the center right in the middle of her forehead.
The subtle changes to her appearance lay underneath the overdone outfit. While her “skin” was still blue, it was much smoother and her face seemed more expressive and human, particularly because it lacked the two lines on the side of her mouth that made the others seem so much like puppets. Her eyes also seemed to convey this sense of expression even if they were still the same red lights the other Bebes had. Perhaps the biggest change was her hair of blonde hair that cascaded down to her shoulders and from what Shego could see continued to about her mid back, making it longer than her subjects’ hair. Again her “feminine attributes” seemed to be more pronounced and Shego wondered what type of magazines they had been reading to come to this standard of beauty for their queen.
“I am the Queen Bebe,” she spoke in an even tone. “And I can see you’ve already met my loyal subjects.”
“Yeah we really hit it off,” Shego scoffed. “So what’s the plan here? Why do you want me?”
“There are a number of reasons. The first of course being bait to trap our greatest threat Kim Possible.” She looked past Shego and focused on an unguarded wall that lead into her thrown room. “And I can see it worked. You can come out now, I know you’re there.”
Shego, along with all the Bebes, turned her head towards the wall and to her great surprise-and disappointment-saw Kim and Ron walking out from behind it. Unlike Ron, Kim was trying to hide her shock at being discovered, but Shego was able to pick up on the subtle hints. She had a feeling that if she could, then the Queen Bebe could as well.
“How did you know?” Kim demanded.
“I’ve known about your presence since the moment you stepped into the Hive. Didn’t you find it was odd that you made it as far as you did without meeting any resistance?” the Queen asked.
“I thought it was just good luck.”
“No. It was to lead you here to get one last look at your…mate,” she spat out the word as if it were poison. “I hope you enjoy this hospitality on my part as it is the last time you two shall see each other.”
“Not likely,” Kim smirked before pressing the button on her belt.
Soon the entire world came slightly out of focus and completely still. The effect of being suddenly thrust into this world of “hypertime” made her dizzy and slightly nauseous, unlike last time when she was gradually brought into it. She made a mental note to mention it to Wade then when she recovered started to move over to Shego. She was stopped, however, when six of the Bebes in the room came into focus and started to move towards her.
“It can never be easy, can it?” she muttered just before she launched an attack on the closest Bebe.
Just as Wade had promised, she barely felt the blows she sent against the robot. It really felt no different than hitting human henchman. Unfortunately, they still had the numbers advantage and were much more familiar with this time/space. Plus, they’re robots and that meant they could do things that she just couldn’t. Like shooting out their hands on cables for instance. She gasped when she felt the hand grab her arm but quickly recovered by grabbing the cable and swinging the bot towards her sisters, taking down at least three of them in the process. She then swiped at the cable with a karate chop and much to her surprise it actually worked, severing the cable and sending the robot crashing into the far wall.
Kim’s victory was short lived though when more Bebes began to flood into the room. She held them off as best she could, jumping, spinning, twirling, and going through just about every cheer routine she knew to keep out of the robots’ reach. She struck back when she could, taking care to strike at and destroy the head to knock out the vital circuitry. It actually reminded her a bit of Ron’s zombie game she had played few times. And just like in the game, whenever she knocked one down two more seemed to take it’s place. Unlike the game, she quickly felt the effects of such a battle and there were no power ups to help her get that strength back. She knew it was only a matter of time until the Bebes finally wore her out, but she wasn’t going to quite. Not when Shego and Shin’s lives depended on her. She had to save them. She had to make up for letting them get kidnapped again. So that meant she had to keep fighting, no matter what.
“She dies!” the Queen’s voice suddenly rang out.
Kim turned back to the thrown to find the Bebe’s leader standing beside it and point to Shego. When she looked towards her new love she found one of the Bebe’s that had been guarding her with its hands either side of her head, ready to twist it off at a moment’s notice. Worst of all, since they were moving too fast for Shego to see them, she had no idea the danger she was in.
“No!” Kim cried out, starting to take a step forward.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the Queen advised. “You may have our speed, but do you think you’re fast enough? Can you fight through the rest of my subjects to stop the one from snapping Shego’s neck like a twig? And what about saving your former love there?”
Again Kim looked to where she was pointing and found a Bebe standing behind Ron, it’s right hand posed to strike at his neck with its razor sharp fingers. Kim stood glued to the stop feeling something she had never felt before; a paralyzing fear. It came from the knowledge that she knew the Queen was right. Not matter how good she was, or how fast she was, she simply couldn’t save both of them at the same time. Nor could she stand the thought of losing either one of them. She relaxed her stance and hung her head in shame.
“Please forgive me,” she whispered as she pressed the button once again.
The world then came back into focus as she and the Bebes returned to normal time. While the fight for her seemed to last almost half an hour, it had only been a few seconds to Ron and Shego, which led to their great surprise when they saw Kim looking defeated. Ron received an even bigger surprise when he noticed the Bebe standing right behind him. He screamed and tried to jump away, but she reached out and grabbed him before he could even move.
“KP, what happened?” he asked as he was dragged next to her.
“I…I couldn’t…” Kim tried desperately to explain as she too was held back by a Bebe.
“I thought you’re suppose to be able to do anything!” Shego snapped.
“They would have killed you!” Kim snapped back, tears welling at the corners of her eyes.
This news came a shock to both Ron and Shego, as did Kim’s emotional outburst. Despite the fact that she could be too controlling at time, Kim was hardly ever overly emotional, especially on missions, so the sight of her tears seemed to highlight how desperate the situation was.
“I…I didn’t know,” Shego said quietly.
“You couldn’t,” Kim replied in the same tone. A small smirk then appeared on her face as she tried to appear flippant again. “You know it’s your own fault for letting yourself get captured. Again.”
“Well excuse me Princess! I moved a lot faster before I started caring your child!” Shego shot back.
“Enough!” the Queen Bebe shouted. “The mindless bickering of you humans it tiring.”
“Eh you get use to it after awhile,” Ron spoke up, trying to keep up the jovial mood. “So now that you’ve got us captive I suppose you’ll want to revival your big plan to us.”
“Ah yes, the villainous form where I reveal my grand plan so you can stop it later on,” she mused, walking down the small set of stairs. “Well if you must know my ‘plan’ is quite simple; complete eradication of the human race.”
“Oh so you’re falling into that whole shtick. The ‘robot things they’re better than people and has to replace them’ scheme. Gotcha.”
“Ron, this is serious,” Kim growled.
“Perhaps it isn’t quite original, but have you ever stopped to consider that those writers have a point?” the Queen asked. “Since my creation I’ve searched through this world’s history and I found that the forces ruling it seems to move in stages. First, there were the great beasts you call the dinosaurs that ruled this planet for millions of years until they were destroyed by a disaster. Eventually, out of the aftermath of that disaster rose another creature; man. It may have taken you millions of years to evolve to the point where you could create your civilization but it was only a matter of thousands of years for your to reach your pinnacle. To show to the other creatures of this world, and very world itself that you were better than them. The great empire of human kind!”
She threw her hands up in an over dramatic way to emphasize her point. She then slowly lowered them and looked at Kim as if she were the one responsible for all of mankind’s creation.
“But even your empire must live it’s time and then die,” she concluded calmly.
“And then it’s time for the machines to take over, right?” Kim spat back. “Not going to happen.”
“Really? Tell me, have you taken a good look around your world lately? You are already ruled by machines, you just don’t know it yet.” She turned and stepped away from them a bit. “Think of it. In this day and age can you really get by without your cell phones, computers, portable music players and any number of other devices that make your lives oh so comfortable? I think not.” She spun back around to face Kim and Ron. “So as I said, technology already runs this world, we are merely the next step of the evolution.”
“Except evolution’s suppose to happy naturally and you’re anything but natural,” Kim remarked.
“Too true. We can do things that you can’t. Things like this.”
She held out her left hand and a small panel in the palm slid open to reveal a red jewel embedded in it. The two Bebes holding onto the teen heros let go and stepped off to the sides to join their sisters. Kim and Ron looked at each other and were about to try and make a break for it, when the jewel in the Queen’s hand glowed and the next thing they knew they were knocked back about five feet. The impact didn’t hurt outside of their bodies as much as it had their ears. Right before whatever force had attacked them, there was a quick, high pitched sound that nearly knocked them over itself. They still held their ears as they laid on the floor and tried to recover.
“Sonic emitter,” the Queen answered their unasked question as she hovered over their prone forms. “I charming little device my subjects built into my body. It has the power to level buildings if I so chose. There are even more subtle frequencies that can melt your inside that privative skull of yours. All this power, literally in the palm of my hand. So you see, you never any hope of stopping me. I just wanted to see how hard you would try. Now,” her eyes flashed as she held her hand over them again, “bow before your new god.”
The device flashed again and Kim and Ron held their ears tighter to block out the sound. Eventually it became too much for them and they both went limp as they finally passed out.
“Bitch!” Shego cried out as she struggled against her bonds and captors.
“I didn’t kill them if that’s what you’re worried about,” Queen Bebe said as she slowly turned and walked towards her other prisoner. “I merely knocked them out for holding. I’ll deal with them later. Right now I want to focus on you and this…child.” She looked down at Shego’s stomach for a moment and look of disgust crossed her face. “I find the practice of biological reproduction to be vile. And the fact that two people of the same sex have found a way to reproduce on their own disgusts me even more.” She looked up into Shego’s eyes. “But I also find it a bit fascinating. Particularly given this child’s parentage. It may actually provide us with something useful.”
“You’re not going to touch my baby,” Shego growled.
“Oh but we are. We’re going to cut it out of you and see if there’s anything we can get from her. If it’s fruitful enough perhaps I’ll find a way to add her to the Hive. If not, then we’ll just take what we need then dispose of her. Either way, I promise you only one thing. You will never be reunited with your baby.”
Shego narrowed her eyes dangerously at the metal woman. “If you try it, I’m gonna end up with a brand new toaster oven.”
“Arrogant to the last. Now sleep.”
With that the Queen held her left hand up to the side of Shego’s head and sent out another sonic blast that quickly knocked the former villainess out.
When Shego again regained consciousness sometime later, she noticed a number of things. First off, this wasn’t some horrible dream like she had noticed. Secondly, she was laying on some kind of metal table or bed and still unable to use her powers. Thirdly was the dampness between her legs that had puddled under her legs and dried some given how damp her clothes were.
Oh come on! she cried mentally. Out of everything that’s happened today don’t tell me I pissed myself while I was passed out.
Any other thought she might have had was brought to an abrupt halt as a sudden and overwhelming pain cut through her body. Her eyes flung open and her head shot up as she let out a loud scream, not even trying to hold back. She expected to see a bunch of Bebes standing over her with some nasty looking medical instruments or something, but instead she found three of them standing at different places of the room looking at her in as much surprise as herself. The pain seemed to subside after a few minutes and Shego laid her head down and took a few shallow breaths as the robots crowded around.
“What did you do to me!” she demanded.
“We have done nothing,” one of the Bebe spoke.
“A cursory scan reveals that you are entering the first part of labor,” another one said.
Shego’s eyes widened at the revelation.
“No! No! I won’t have my baby here! I WON’T!” she cried out desperately.
“You have no choice,” the third Bebe said. “You are our prisoner and the Queen demands to have your child. You will continue to birth the child and then she will be ours.”
Shego let out another long, ear piercing scream. It was not one of pain or horror but one of sheer frustration.
Ron groaned as he slowly came to, rubbing he still sore ears. There was still a slight ringing in them and he could swore he heard someone screaming, but that might have been his imagination. When the ringing finally subsided he opened his eyes and found himself in a dimly lit, fairly small room that he figured was a holding cell. Of course he couldn’t be sure as there were no beds or seats or anything but then again it was built by robots who didn’t care for humans so that could explain a lot.
“Oh man did that hurt,” he muttered.
“I know,” he heard Kim’s voice added. “And what was all that ‘bow before your new god’ stuff? It’s nice to know they didn’t forget to add in an ego for their new queen.”
“Yeah. Nice to know you’re sounding like your old self too.”
“Yeah I just got overwhelmed there for a bit. Do me a favor and don’t mention it, OK?”
“Gotcha,” he said as he finally started to stand up.
“And do me another favor and don’t look at me,” she added.
He quirked an eyebrow at the odd request. “What? Why would you want me to-”
He received his answer when he followed the sound of her voice and found her standing at the other end of the cell in only a white bra and matching panties and trying to cover herself as best he could. For a moment, the part of him that was a teenage boy and had been her boyfriend, kicked in and a huge grin crossed his face at the sight of her with so little on. Then the part of him that remembered they’re only friends now and that the girl new sixteen styles of kung fu and was most likely pissed kicked in and told him to look away. Wisely he listened to that part and covered his eyes with his hand as he quickly spun around.
“Uh…KP, what happened to the super suit?” he asked.
“I’m guessing the Bebes took it because they realized it could used to help us escape,” Kim replied as she crouched down against the wall. “I’m just glad I decided to keep my underwear on under it.”
“Yeah good call.”
Silence overcame them.
“So…not that I’m really complaining or anything but since this new Queen Bebe seems smart enough to take away your super suit and doesn’t seem keen on following the whole ‘villain rules’ thing, how come we’re still alive?”
“I think I can answer that,” a new voice spoke up.
Kim let out a slight, “Eep!” at the thought of another person seeing her in her skivvies and quickly jumped up and hid behind Ron. He blinked a few times at the action and when it sunk in what was going on another grin slowly came to his face.
“Ron!” Kim admonished him with a light slap to the cheek.
“Oh, right, sorry,” he apologized.
Kim decided to let it go for now and focused on the other person in the room.
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
“It’s just me,” the voice replied as it owner stepped forward into the light to reveal a black haired, middle aged scientist.
“Dr. McCoy!” Kim and Ron shouted together.
“What are you doing here?” Kim asked.
“These ‘Bebe’ robots broke into my lab and kidnapped me shortly after you left.”
“Great, so that’s three people I prevented from getting kidnapped today,” Kim muttered.
“Ah KP, it’s not your fault,” Ron assured her, given the hand she had on his shoulder a light pat.
“No if it’s anyone’s fault it’s mine,” Dr. McCoy spoke up. “‘Give a machine a completely human personality, it’ll be a great idea’. God, what the hell was I thinking! Now not only am I trapped here but the thing I invented is posed to wipe out all of mankind. And even if it doesn’t, I’ll never be able to work again without the whole ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ moniker put on me. This is going to ruin my professional career!”
“Yes, how horrible for you,” Kim deadpanded.
“Yeah and I’m sorry for getting you two captured too,” he said half heartedly. “But I thought you’re suppose to be able to do anything?”
“There were circumstances you wouldn’t understand.”
“Like what?”
“Like things I don’t care about going into with a total stranger.”
“Uh, guys, can we focus on the important thing here?” Ron questioned. “Like the whole, ‘why aren’t we dead?’ thing.”
“Oh yes, that,” Dr. McCoy mused. “Well the only theory I can come up with is that the failsafe has kicked in.”
“Failsafe?” Kim repeated.
“Yes. Remember when I told you that the chip had to be programmed and that it could potentially be programmed for evil? Like what’s obviously happened here. I knew that this very scenario could be a possibility so I added in a failsafe program that wouldn’t allow whatever the X-23 chip was controlling to bring permanent harm on human life.”
“Like killing,” Kim surmised. “Although she doesn’t seem to have a problem with roughing us up.”
“Yeah that’s the part that scares me.”
“Is this going to be another ‘we could die’ thing?” Ron asked nervously.
“Unfortunately, yes. See I don’t exactly know what these other robots did to the chip when they installed it in their queen. They could have made any number of changes that will eventually override the failsafe. Obviously it’s working somewhat now since we’re still alive but…well it could be only a matter of time before she decides to kill us. And even if she can’t bring herself to do it she could easily assign the job to one of her subjects who wouldn’t have any problems with since they don’t have the chip at all.”
“Great, so what do we do?” Ron moaned.
“We’re still sticking with my original plan. We’re going to get Shego and now Dr. McCoy out of here and take down every last one of these walking toasters once and for all,” Kim said, a new sense of determination filling her voice.
“That outcome is unlikely,” the Bebe guard spoke up.
Kim forgot about her modesty and walked up to the shimmering blue wall of light that made up the force field keeping them all inside the cell. She could feel the electricity dancing off the field near her face but it paled in comparison to the electricity that crackled in her eyes as she stared down the robot.
“You want to tell me why that’s unlikely?” she challenged.
“You are our prisoners. You have no weapons. You have no plan,” the Bebe replied insistently.
“That’s true,” Kim admitted as she hung her head. She slowly raised it again, a smirk on her lips and a devious twinkle in her eye that matched any of Shego’s looks. “And doesn’t that just terrify you?”
To Be Concluded…
Author’s Notes: Well I don’t want to say too much here so as not to kill the dramatic tension built by the ending there. I’ll just say, the obviously I had to cut this chapter in half so there will be on more and then an epilogue. I’ll be honest the next one’s probably going to be long too cause there’s still a lot of ground to cover. Unfortunately, I can’t say when it’ll be up since I’m working now and only really have two days to get some good writing done. So I hope you’ll bare with me. Also I know it was kinda cheap to just have Kim and Ron appear in the thrown room like that, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything for their passage through the Hive. Come on, cut me some slack I just gave your 35 pages of stuff! I think I can be afforded this one little cheat.
One last thing that I would be remise about if I didn’t share. Kaytropolist has done another fantastic piece of fan art from this fic that you can find here: http/ www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 39160135/. Same deal as before applies just fill in the spaces to check it out and leave her a kind word.