3:00 am
Shego and Kim stood as far apart from each other as was possible as the group discussed strategy.
“Did you disable the alarms without alerting Hellpike?” Mego demanded.
“Doh! Give us credit for some brains,” Shego snapped.
“Everything went fine,” Ron assured him. Shego was clearly on edge and wasn't going to let Mego remain in control of the meeting without challenging him. Ron was counting on the Wegos to keep the focus on the job. He hoped Kim was going to keep a clear head in the discussion also, but wasn't sure under the circumstances.
“It looks to me like getting the hostage out first should be priority number one,” Ed said.
“We should let her fry,” Shego muttered.
“What was that, Sis?”
“Nothing.”
“Shego, you want to try and get the hostage out?” Mego asked.
“I think Ron should take the job,” Shego said.
“Letting your feelings influence you?” Kim demanded.
“No, I'm not. Ron can move every bit as well as I can -- maybe better. And he is physically stronger than I am. After being tied for hours she's going to have to be carried.”
Ron nodded, and both Mego and Kim accepted the judgment.
Shego continued, “Since there are no windows in there we need some way of finding out if Hellpike is in the room and someone to direct the attack. I think we need Mr. Squeaky Voice to coordinate things.”
“Mr. Squeaky Voice?” Ron asked.
“Mego hates the name. But when he gets small his vocal cords shorten and his voice gets higher. If you can get in there,” She said to her brother, “we'll all follow your directions.” It both made sense and soothed his feelings by giving him some control. The Wegos quickly pledged to listen to his directions.
Mego headed back to the old factory. While he could still participate through his headset the fact he was physically gone made it easier for Shego to assert herself.
“In an ideal world Ron can get in, rescue the hostage, and get out, before Hellpike even knows we're there. If he's burning Hego do we wait for him to leave or start a distraction to let Ron move in?”
“I don't think I could take standing by, letting him hurt Hego and just waiting for him to get tired of inflicting pain on the big idiot,” Will said quietly. The others nodded in silent agreement.
“You couldn't hear that,” Shego spoke into her GO headset, “but the vote was to start the rescue as soon as possible.”
“I got you,” the squeaky voice came in over her headset. “I'm going to try and get into the North-east corner. It should be out of the action and has a couple machine tools I can hide behind. Try to not draw any fire in my direction, okay guys?”
“I didn't vote against starting the rescue as soon as possible,” Shego continued. “But if Hellpike is in there we're going to need a distraction for Ron to have a chance. Are you Wegos up for a game of fire tag?”
“God, I hate that game,” Will complained.
“We all do,” Shego reminded him.
“And what are you and I supposed to be doing while they play this fire game?” Kim demanded.
“The Wegos are just a distraction until Ron can get the bitch out. They don't have the skills to take Hellpike out. You and I do.”
“Why don't you and I go in first?”
“Hostage, remember?”
“Why Kim?” Ron asked. “After I get the hostage out I could help do it.”
“No. You are good, Stoppable -- plenty good enough to pull it off. But it would be nice to have someone there with some experience with Hellpike. That's me. I work out more with Kim. I don't know your moves, and I have a better sense of what she'll do.” Shego paused and stared at Kim, then declared in a flat voice, “AndI trust her.”
“Oh, here's an ugly thought,” Ed said. “What if he fires up a tank suit?”
“Then we're going to have one disappointed villain,” came the sound of Mr. Squeaky Voice.
“Good job, brother,” Shego said.
“Yeah, remember that next time you want to tell a small joke.”
An Ed split from the planning session and went over to their father. “Go home, please, dad. Matt says it's ugly in there. We should be able to get him out fine. But you can't help. And if anything goes wrong you need to be with mom when the news comes in.”
George left reluctantly; knowing that his son was right but wishing there was more he could do.
Besides the loading bay door, clearly how the Tank suits were brought in and out of the factory storage area, which would have required explosives or someone with Hego's strength to get it open, there were also two regular doors on opposite walls. Hellpike couldn't physically watch them both at once, but from the northwest corner of the room he'd be able to keep his eye on his two captives and have his best shot at anyone trying to move close to him.