The early morning rays of sunlight streamed into the Possible family kitchen bathing the room in a warm yellow glow. Dr. Possible was already sitting at the table eating a simple breakfast and paging through the morning paper even as the first shards of sun were visible on the horizon.
He was definitely a morning person, he concluded to himself. Even in college, he was early to bed and early to rise, eager to face each day's challenges and find their solutions. His parents had made sure he knew the family mantra: “Anything's Possible for a Possible!” Dr. Possible simply felt that if anything was possible, why waste time sleeping when work could be done?
Still, there were other reasons he had to get his morning toast and coffee just as the sun rose.
“Good morning, daddy,” said the doctor's seventeen-year-old redheaded daughter as she swiftly swept into the kitchen. She made a bee-line to the ‘fridge where she was extracting a pair of slices of wheat bread with one hand an pouring a glass of orange juice with the other.
“Good morning, Kimmiecub. I heard you come in late last night, you weren't out with any boys were you?” Dr. Possible sounded serious but it was hard for anyone to know for sure, as he remained barricaded behind his paper. “Well, aside from Ronald.”
“No big, dad, I was just out late at GJ HQ.” She sipped her juice as she deposited her bread in the toaster then paused, carefully re-examining the toaster. She knew that often appliances were being replaced in the house thanks to a family of eccentric inventors, but this was the first on she'd seen with engines. “Uh, the tweebs haven't been up yet, have they?”
“Haven't seen ‘em yet, sweetie.”
Kim felt something was wrong, but she pushed down her toast all the same. Immediately afterwards the ‘toaster’ began rumbling then suddenly the engines exploded with fire and the chrome box took flight. Spinning around erratically, the contraption bounced off several walls and the fridge while narrowly missing Kim's head and tearing a small section of Dr. Possible's paper.
Kim grabbed a cast iron skillet and was about to put down the rabid toaster when it suddenly died in mid air and came crashing to the floor.
“Cool!” a pair of voices echoed from the hall. A pair of twins, one dressed in red, the other in green, ran into the room and stood over the smoking remains of breakfast. “I TOLD you it would work with wheat!” said the one in red.
“The white bread lasted longer through,” corrected the one in green.
“Boys,” said Dr. Possible, putting his paper down. “What have I said about explosives in the house?”
“Aww, dad,” they whined in symphony. Only Jim continued, “it was only a small amount of explosives; the bread is what catalyzed the reaction.”
“Bread?” Dr. Possible, rocket scientist, paused mid-scolding. “How did you use bread as a catalyst for a rocket fuel?”
“More importantly,” interrupted Kim, her hands on her hips. “What are you going to do about my breakfast, tweebs?”
Tim looked at the chrome rocket again and kicked it slightly. The pair of slices of bread shot up into the air and he snatched them quickly. They were black rectangles where once had been edible crushed wheat. “Uh, do you like them extra crispy?” the twin asked.
“No way,” said Ron as he and Kim were walking to school. “A real GJ agent? That's totally cool!”
“I guess,” said Kim looking sheepish. “I didn't really commit to anything but, I mean, really Ron, do you see me as a GJ agent?”
“Is this a trick question? KP, you'd be like, the ultimate GJ agent. You've already got more experience than any of them and, I mean, come on, you remember Will Du, their ‘top agent’ at the time?”
“Yeah,” Kim nodded. “It's not that I don’t see the parallels between what they're doing and what we do, Ron, but it's just how intense they are about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” she struggled for a moment. “Like school. I like going to school. I like doing cheerleading and I'm starting to like history. Wouldn't I have to give up all those things if I was going to be fighting crime full time?”
“Did Dr. Director say you would have to?” asked Ron.
“Well, no.”
“I don't think GJ would really demand you give up the things you love, KP. And if my experiences yesterday are any sign, it seems like a lot of agents have quite a lot of spare time on their hands.” Ron rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about the lovely, but obsessed, Agent Grimes.
“I don't know,” Kim shook her head. “At least I don't have to decide anything now. Dr. Director said I could choose to join at any time.”
The two students approached the Middleton High entrance and noticed Mr. Barkin standing by the doorway watching as students filed past.
“Then don’t worry about it,” said Ron. “Right now, you should be worried about that crazy look in Barkin's eyes. I think he very well may snap us in two for cutting on the first day of class.”
“So not the drama, Ron,” shrugged Kim. “Well, maybe for you, since you had detention.”
“Oh my god, I completely forgot!” Ron grabbed his face. “That's it, I'll just have to run away now, and leave this life behind.”
“Ron!”
“I mean it KP, I've seen that look in a man's eyes before. He's going to ‘pull me aside for guidance’ and then they'll find my body in the river later this week.” Ron shivered.
“What river?” asked Kim with a smile. “Come on, we both cut, we might as well face it together.” She held out a hand. “I'd hate for you to have to leave me behind.”
Ron looked at Kim and then the hand. He held it, carefully. “Well, all right, but if both end up in the river, it is SO your fault.”
Almost like clockwork, as soon as they were within view, Barkin hollered out to them. “Stoppable! Possible!” He thundered over to them. “You'd better come with me.”
Ron swallowed, then whispered to Kim, “See? Taking us aside to do the dirty deed.”
“Ron, please?” she whispered back.
Barkin only pulled them into an empty hallway, instead of the torture chamber that Ron envisioned, but that didn't make him feel any safer.
“I'm curious to know,” Barkin began, staring down at the two students. “What exactly the sort of punishment you think I should deliver to students who can't even make it through the first day of classes without breaking the rules?”
“Uh, a slap on the wrist and a firm warning?” Ron offered. Barkin's stare made him feel three inches tall and he wilted immediately.
“Please, Mr. Barkin,” pleaded Kim. “It was an emergency! Someone needed our help.”
“I'm sure that makes you feel very popular, Possible,” Barkin looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “But here you have an obligation to learn, and to do that, you have to attend your classes. There are no exceptions. When someone breaks the rules, there are consequences. In this case, I thin--”
“Mr. Barkin!”
The tall muscular teacher paused then turned to see who'd called his name. Kim and Ron looked past the burly teacher to see his polar opposite, the tall and thin Dr. Rick running up behind him.
“Dr. Vedas,” said Barkin, sizing up the interruption. “Just a moment, I'm delivering reprimands.” He turned to continue talking to the students.
“Actually,” persisted Rick. “I was going to suggest that you might be lenient on these two.”
“Lenient,” repeated Barkin, as if he'd never spoken it before.
“I'm sure you read the news,” continued the taller man. “You know how often these two are off being good Samaritans to just about anyone who asks. Even fighting crimes that leave our better agencies of justice challenged.”
“None of that is relevant within these halls.” Barkin's eyes narrowed. “Public schooling is governed by rules--”
“Which have been broken.” Dr. Rick nodded and casually slipped between Barkin and the students. “Which is why I haven't told you to forget their crimes, but to merely give them a reduced punishment. I know they're going to work twice as hard to make sure they haven't missed anything, isn't that right, kids?”
Kim and Ron looked puzzled for a moment then immediately turned up the ‘innocent child’ meter. “Of course, Dr. Vedas,” Kim said, dramatically. “I couldn't imagine missing a single lesson.”
“Yeah, I've got the learning bug and it takes all my energy just to leave the library at times,” chimed in Ron. Kim elbowed him gently in the ribs.
“Don't go overboard,” she muttered as quietly as she could.
“See?” said Rick, suddenly looking slightly uncomfortable.
Barkin stared at the teacher, his eye twitch the only indication of life. After several long moments he spoke. “Stoppable, you will demonstrate your love of English by writing me a ten page report on the summer reading, due on Friday.”
Ron blanched. “Yes sir,” Ron said, unenthusiastically.
“Since Possible is your student,” Barkin pointed a powerful finger at the long haired teacher. “I'll leave it to you to deal out acceptable punishment for her. And if either of them thinks it might be cute to leave halfway through the day again, I'll have them after school in detention every day for the next month.”
“Sounds appropriate,” nodded Rick. “Good job, Mr. Barkin.”
The larger man could only frown. “You're a strange one, Dr. Vedas.” A bell rang in the distance. Barkin returned his gaze to Kim and Ron. “I expect you two to be in class by the second bell.”
“We will, Mr. Barkin,” said Kim.
Barkin eyed Ron for a moment, then turned and left.
Kim sighed. “Dr. Rick, not that I’m not grateful, but what's the sitch? Why did you go out on a limb for us?”
Rick chuckled. “Well, I've been on the receiving end of your generosity more than once, weather you've known it or not, I figured you'd deserved someone recognizing it.” He ran a hand through his long hair. “Don't make a habit of this though. I'm still your teacher. Find out what work you missed in your later classes and get it done.”
“No problem, Dr. Rick,” Kim said, smiling. “I'll grab my books and head right to your class.” She turned and started jogging to her locker.
Ron blinked. “Well, thanks Dr. R.”
“You'll make sure you don't make me a liar as well, right?”
“Me? Oh sure, yeah, I'll do double-time to keep up. You betcha.”
Rick sighed. “Just don't fall any more behind, please.”
Ron nodded then raised an eyebrow. “What did KP do for you anyway?”
“My estate owns a good number of archeological artifacts that go on tour with museums around the world from time to time,” the teacher said. “They've been nearly stolen more than once. You and Kim have been the reason they're still in my collection.”
“Your… estate?” said Ron, fazed.
Dr. Rick just smiled and patted him on the back. “Get to class before we both get in trouble.”
Ron just stared as the tall man walked casually away.
“Hi, Ronald,” came a voice from behind him.
“I wonder,” he said turning. “If that guy is exactly what he-WUAH!”
“That's some reaction,” noted the short haired blonde girl standing in front of him. She was dressed casually in a pink top and jeans but Ron knew her typically outfit was a blue uniform.
“Vicki?” Ron gasped. “What are you doing here? Did GJ find Gemini?”
“No,” the agent said, shaking her head. “Dr. Director is putting all our free resources onto tracking him down but nothing has come up yet.”
“Then…?”
The blonde smiled. “Research.”
“Research,” repeated Ron.
“In order to get the data I need to redo the equation, I need to closely monitor yours and Kim's daily interactions, especially when you are in action. I figured posing as a student would the best way to do that.”
“You're going to be following KP and me around? I don’t remember that being mentioned yesterday! I thought GJ had cameras and tracking devices everywhere.”
“Uh,” Vicki blushed. “I don't have approval to use those resources since this is just a preliminary evaluation.”
“Look, I've got to get to class,” Ron started creeping away. “Maybe you can ‘monitor’ me on our next mission, okay?”
“Oh, it's no problem, I've got a schedule made that matches your.” She held out the printed piece of paper.
Ron stared, a little pale as the second bell rang in the distance. He could only hang his head.
Shego stood before the unsavory bar in a darkened portion of the city triumphant and proud. It had been many years since she'd been to this place, and she wasn't sure it still existed until she contacted Senior Senior Senior to find for sure. As she approached the old oaken door crowned with iron, she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. She wasn't sentimental, far from it, but she was wise enough to appreciate where everything had all began.
“The Blackened Bounty,” the nasal, grating voice of Mrs. Angela ‘Atomic Andy’ Lipsky said from behind Shego's proud stance. “Looks like a dump. Are you sure you got the right place from that Mexican billionaire?” Andy had been nothing if not insistent about coming along everywhere Shego went while searching for the older woman's son, Dr. Drakken. Shego could hardly claim to be a loner these days, least of all to a Lipsky, having spent the last 3 years working almost consistently with the ‘doctor.’ But even if the short, rounded woman was an ex-super-villain, she had fallen a long way from those lofty heights and was outright annoying at best and a major hindrance at worst.
“He's not Mexican,” Shego said, rolling her eyes. “He's Spanish. And yes, I'm sure this is right. I've been here before.”
“I didn't know you were that kinda girl,” Andy said, adjusting her large cataract-shaped glasses.
“I'm not a -- listen, we all stop here on our way to better things. It's very likely we'll be able to find ‘The Survivor’ here, so why don't you go play by the jet and let me handle this.” Shego folded her arms and stared at Andy.
The mother was not discouraged. “Oh, no, I didn't come all this way just to see the outside of the place. Let's go in.” She moved forward on her short legs and pushed open the door. Shego followed quickly behind.
The inside of the bar looked like it had been updated sometime in the late seventies and had remained that way for prosperity's sake. Nothing had changed since Shego had last been there. The single long bar ran lengthwise down the room surrounded by at least twenty-five barstools. The rest of the room was divided between the tables and booths for dining areas and the billiards tables and darts for entertainment. The place wasn't very busy, only about a dozen or so people in the room. A few at the bar, more still scattered across the tables. Dark wood paneling covered the walls making it feel more like a cave than a bar.
“Don't stray--” Shego started then stopped herself. What was the worst thing that could happen if the elder Lipsky got in trouble? Maybe she'd get hurt and then be hesitant to go everywhere Shego did. That might not be so bad. “You know what? Go crazy. I'll grab you when we're done here.”
“All right,” nodded the mother. “You be careful now,” she said as she wandered off towards the mostly vacant bar.
Shego grumbled. She's warning me to be careful? she thought. What insanity! Is she even capable of comprehending how much more capable I am than her? She's the stranger in this land, not me. I've been here before. I've defeated hundreds of people bigger than me. I've walked into the Maw and come out alive. I've…
…got to get my mind off of this, she concluded.
She moved swiftly over to a circular table that already had four large, muscular men, dressed alike, sitting at it. She pulled out an empty chair and sat back, crossing her legs. The other men at the table looked at her, at first annoyed, and then with fear.
“M-miss Shego,” the closest man said. They all had similar builds and their uniforms covered almost everything on them except their mouths. Its possible Shego could have told them apart by the sound of their voice and the shape of their mouths but she didn't bother. They weren't worth the effort.
“How's it going, boys?” Shego said, narrowing her eyes and smirking. The men looked at her and concluded that discussing how they actually were was probably not the expected response. One of the men, who Shego randomly assigned the number ‘two', settled himself and leaned forward to speak.
“Has Dr. Drakken finally given up on his Synthodrones?” number two said.
“'Fraid not, fella,” Shego replied, looking at the tips of her gloves and examining the sharp claws at the end. “They're getting better and still much cheaper than hiring you guys out.”
“We'll work cheap,” another man -- Shego gave him number “three” -- said quickly before being jabbed in the gut by number two. “I mean, we could work out a deal,” he corrected himself.
“I really don't see it happening,” Shego shook her head, taking the opportunity to scan the bar again. She didn't see her target, but that didn't mean he wasn't here. “You should start barking up other trees, like Dementor or maybe Gemini.”
The four soldiers shifted silently after she spoke which told Shego everything they needed to know. “Speaking of which, I’m looking for ‘The Survivor.'” She paused and looked into their goggled eyes. “I don't suppose any of you know where I can find him?”
The men were silent for several moments and Shego's eyes probed them intently, looking for that tell, the turn of the head, or a twist of the hand, something unconscious that would tell her where her target was. They were simple minded men, she knew they'd have to be to have once worked for her and Drakken, and if The Survivor wasn't here, they would make some motion to indicate who would know where. All she had to do was watch.
The silent one, number four, twitched ever so slightly to the left then back, as if catching himself. Shego wished she could see his eyes, the answer would be plain as day there, but the dark goggles prevented her from gazing into a person's easiest tell.
After another second of study, number two spoke up again. Shego turned to look towards him, but focused behind him, at the lone man sitting in a dark booth against the wall, in the general direction of number four's twitch. “Why are you looking for him?” asked number two.
“I heard he's famous,” she said, standing, keeping her eyes fixed on the man at the booth. The scrape of her chair against the tile floor alerted the shadow of her presence and the dark figure turned, probably to look at Shego's vulture-like stare. “I'd hate to miss an opportunity to expand my autograph collection,” Shego continued to say to the men but her full attention was elsewhere now.
The shadowy form moved slightly then froze again, like a deer in the headlights. Shego slowly moved her foot up to put it on the edge of the table. The four men sitting with her turned to follow her gaze. The combined attention of Shego with her former henchmen was apparently too much for the blackened shape, who lurched out of the booth and started hobbling towards the rear exit.
Shego smiled evilly as she launched herself up off the edge of the table to leap towards the form. Her kick off the rounded wood top caused the opposite side to pivot upwards, knocking into the chins of two of the men that were sitting with her. They fell to the ground hard in shock just as Shego's light body touched the tile just brief enough to start running after her target.
The shape, slinking along the back of the bar where the light failed to reach properly, pushed himself through the door with the red ‘EXIT’ sign above it. Shego almost laughed as she slowed her pace and walked purposely towards the heavy metal door. Her left hand flared to life, washing the back half of the bar with a greenish light as her right hand pushed open the door leading to the back alley.
She stepped out of the bar into the alley to find her target scrambling against a slick wall on the far side to no success. He was dressed in a purple-colored uniform and stood no taller than Shego herself. Unlike the men she had been sitting with before, this man was thin, almost lanky, and far from the athletic Adonis shape that most henchmen resembled.
He was the one, she knew.
“Silly man,” Shego said, pacing forward. Her glow reflected off the walls giving everything around her a green hue. Like a virus, her emerald light spread along the buildings to either side drawing ever closer to her target. “Despite the sign, there's no way out of this alley. Anybody worth their salt knows that about the Blackened Bounty.”
The man continued to scramble, hoping for a desperate foothold. Shego merely stalked forward, the green light reaching the cobblestones just before her target's feet. “It's no use,” she continued. “If you cooperate, I'll make it quick.”
The man, finally giving up on scaling the vertical wall, turned around, pressing his back against the brick as Shego came within a few feet of him, the heat from her glowing hand pressing against him drawing sweat down his brow. On the center of his chest, as part of the uniform he was wearing, was a giant Greek letter. Omega. “What do you want?” the man said, his voice high pitched and strained.
Shego smiled. “You are The Survivor, are you not?” she purred. Holding her glowing hand to the side she moved her body close to his. He trembled from the proximity.
“M-maybe,” he squeaked.
Her right hand pressed against the symbol on the man's chest. “Omega,” she said. “The last.”
“Y-y-yes,” Omega said. His eyes were transfixed on the glowing hand.
“You are the only one to survive Gemini's normally fatal firings.” Shego moved her hand out of sight so she could look into his eyes. “Or so I've heard.”
“Please, if he knows that I'm alive,” Omega, no longer distracted by glowing death, looked around the alley suspiciously. “He's got cameras EVERYWHERE!”
Shego, satisfied with her game but starting to grow impatient, dropped the smile and got to the point. “Tell me how to find Gemini and you can go on cowering in the dark to avoid your former boss. I won't tell how I found out, but if you lead me wrong, not even the blackest shadows will hide you from me.” She brought out her glowing hand again and turned up the head such that Omega believed he was getting a tan.
“Okay, okay,” Omega said. “I'll help you, just, don't hurt me.”
“Feh,” Shego said with a frown, extinguishing her green flames and grabbing Omega by his collar. “Such cowardice.” She began dragging him back to the bar.
“It's cowardice that has kept me alive,” Omega mumbled back.
Shego pulled open the ‘emergency exit’ and yanked Omega back inside. The former Drakken henchmen she had been sitting with were now by the bar and laughing loudly. In fact, everyone who had been scattered around the room were now by the bar and giggling at something going on in the center. Even the elderly and normally stoic bartender (from what Shego could remember of him) was smiling widely.
Shego frowned. What was going on?
“Come on,” Shego said, letting go of the former Gemini henchman. “Run again and I'll not hesitate to fry you.”
“How will you find Gemini then?” Omega said with a sly grin.
Shego scowled and grabbed Omega's arm and let her hand flare up for a moment. The man yelped like a child. “I didn't say I'd kill you,” Shego snapped before letting go and marching towards the bar. The henchman looked depressed again and followed silently.
Shego crooned her head to see what the commotion had been about. Not very much typically got guys of this sort laughing and certainly giggling. Then she heard the voice. That awful, voice that had meant nothing but misery for her.
“… and that colorful hero, Major Starshine, just stared in shock as I took the girl hostage and fled on my Atomic Airplane!”
The laugher exploded and Shego felt her blood boil. She grabbed the nearest man in front of her and hurled him out of the way so she could see with her own eyes. In the center of the laughing circle of henchmen was Andy. She was laughing as well, and had a hand on the bartenders’ arm as she spoke. “I remember telling Fatal Cadence here,” she motioned towards the bartender. “You know what he said? Tell them what you said.”
The bartender, trying to keep himself from laugh, blurted out, “I said, ‘I never thought nuclear decay could happen so fast!'” He nearly buckled over in laugher after speaking and the rest of the henchmen followed suit.
Shego's blood curdled. She knew why she hated Mrs. Lipsky so much now. She was the antithesis of everything that Shego was. The green villainess would never be caught dead joking about the old days in a bar, never have gotten chummy with other villains with the same goals as her. And while she would take every opportunity to embarrass her enemies, she hated the corny one-liner during the fast getaway.
Evil wasn't a job, at least not to Shego. It was a state of being, a concept infused into everything someone did. Andy seemed to think evil was a jacket she wore for a time but underneath she was a ‘people person.’ You couldn't be a villain while prancing around in a silly costume and making jokes related to your name. And you certainly couldn't ‘retire’ like Mama Lipsky seemed to do. There was only one retirement from Evil, and the peace it brought was eternal.
Giggling from behind her caused Shego to turn to see the, previously terrified, Omega laughing as well. Apparently Andy Lipsky's continuing tales had made even the paranoid henchmen forget his situation for a moment. She would have to remind him.
She glared at him with eyes that seemed to burn brighter than her hands ever did and spoke deliberately. “We - are - leaving.”
Gemini swallowed and nodded. Shego turned her attention to the crowd and pushed forward.
“Come on, storyteller, we're leaving.” Shego pointed toward the door with emphasis.
“We're done already?” Andy asked. Shego nodded. “Ah, well, alright then.” She turned to the bartender. “It's so nice to see you again, Corey.”
“Indeed it was,” nodded the barkeep.
Mrs. Lipsky hopped down from the tall barstool and followed Shego and Gemini out, the former scowling the entire time.
Saying Kim didn't exactly like where things were headed, would be like saying the sun was a campfire.
“You're like, what? Twenty?” Kim said staring at the blond who was suspiciously close to her boyfriend.
“Nineteen, actually,” admitted Vicki Grimes, GJ agent and sudden stalker of Ron Stoppable. “But I think I look young enough to pull off a senior at a high school.” She shook her head. “It doesn't matter if someone figures it out. My only purpose is to study how you and Ronald interact.”
“It's Ron,” said Kim, irritated. “He likes to be called Ron.” She looked at the boy in question. “Right?”
“You know, I'm thinking lunch might actually sound good today,” Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck. He made a slight smile but got only stares back from Kim. He tried to recover. “She's right, Vicki, its Ron. Only my parents call me Ronald. Well, and KP's parents. Drakken calls me buffoon, so I kinda prefer him call me Ronald to that. At least Shego remembers my name pretty frequently. Oh, the Seniors do too, but probably because I got them started in the villainy business and I think I'll stop babbling now and eat my poison.” Ron turned awkwardly and headed down the hall towards the cafeteria.
Vicki smiled at the departing Ron and glanced over at Kim, still standing by the lockers where they had met for lunch. If Kim were paranoid, she would have sworn the GJ agent said “yes” under her breath. As it was, the cheerleader frowned and grabbed the apples out of her locker before following the two blondes.
She got about three steps before someone was yanking on her arm.
“Kim, where were you yesterday?”
Oh, that's Bonnie's voice, Kim thought, trying not to frown more. She turned again to face the brunette cheerleader and found her standing in front of the rest of the squad, as usual. She had an angry look on her face, also as usual.
“Sorry, Bonnie,” Kim apologized. “Something came up.”
“Hello? The pep rally is on Friday, we don't have time to waste on you disappearing at a moment's notice.”
“Come on, we already know the routine by heart, and we've been practicing every week through the end of summer. Missing one day is so not the drama.”
“That's not the point, Ms. Perfect,” Bonnie said then motioned to the rest of the squad behind her. “We're concerned about your commitment.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “Must we do this every year, Bon-Bon?” Bonnie shook with rage at the use of her secret nickname. “You know I'm more than capable of dividing my time between the squad and my other activities.”
“Do I?” Bonnie rested her head against her hand as if lost in thought. “Your miraculous accomplishments in the past few years rarely come from your own hard work and dedication. Many times you get help from that doofus mascot, and the times that you don't rely on him there is typically some strange invention of some sort involved in your salvation.” She stepped aside so that the squad behind her could be in view. “But we do all the same things by showing up every day and putting long hours into the work, without a crazy device that speeds up our time or increases our strength.”
Kim blinked.
“So do I trust someone who frequently relies on her advantage instead of the hard work ‘normal’ people put in?” Bonnie's hands went back to her hips. “Do I need to answer that?”
Did Bonnie just make a decent point? Kim asked herself. This had already been a crazy day, now it was getting worse.
“Bonnie,” Kim began but the brunette cheerleader cut her off.
“Don't bother, Kim,” Bonnie said. “Just prove your commitment by coming to practice today. If you can't make room in your busy schedule for one day's worth of practice then, well, we'll know where your priorities lie.”
The lynch-mob moved off and Kim wondered if she'd just been manipulated or barely dodged the bullet. She really loved being a cheerleader, but did it come first in her life? No. Not really. She couldn't very well ignore someone's cries for help just to make sure she'd get to practice on time. But if nobody was dying… or the world wasn't being threatened… and her family was safe from danger… or--
How much free time did her website actually leave her, anyway?
Her thoughts drifted to Dr. Director's offer yesterday. Did she really have a choice? How much time could she really devote to a real job? Would her employer understand if she was constantly late or missing entirely from work because Dr. Drakken had a new death ray? What if Senior Senior Senior was angry at her? He was rich enough to acquire whatever company she worked for and shut them down. What would she do then? Who would want to hire someone who could risk them losing their job? Was there anything she could count on being consistent in her life?
Kim walked in a daze into the cafeteria and got in line to receive her glop. Afterwards, she scanned the room and spotted Ron and -- ugh -- Vicki eating at one table. She sat down next to Ron, who was apparently explaining how GJ headquarters featured a definite lack of spinning tops of doom. He paused, mid sentence when he saw Kim's look.
“KP?” he asked. “Are you all right? You look… devastated.” He put hand on her shoulder. “Anything you want take off these and put on mine?” Ron grinned.
“Well, I--” she stopped when looked into Ron's eyes.
Yes. There were things she could count on being consistent. Sure, Drakken would always try to threaten the world and Shego would always challenge her ability. But Wade would always let her know when someone needed help.
And Ron would always be there to run into danger with her. Her friends didn't judge her or question her commitment. And if one day she had to work for GJ because they were the only one's who would take her, she wouldn't go unless Ron could too. He would go, as well, because he couldn't abandon her. Just like she couldn't abandon him.
Kim smiled widely and put an arm around Ron. “No, you've already taken on enough,” she said.
Her boyfriend.
Maybe it wasn't such a strange thought after all.
“Oh man, that's just too cute,” said an emotional voice from behind them. Kim turned to see Monique fighting back tears. Kim laughed as her stylish friend came around and sat down at the table. “Better not let everyone see that, or we'll have another ‘Universe Changing Event.'” Kim blushed. Monique looked at Vicki. “Who's our new friend?”
“This is Vicki Grimes, she's…” Kim trailed off. She hadn't heard what the cover story was and couldn't think of one quick enough. Oh well, it's not like Monique didn't know GJ existed. “Actually, she's a GJ agent studying Ron and I again. Vicki, this is Monique.”
“Oh, no, not the Factor,” Monique looked terrified.
“Actually, my research is more paired this time,” Vicki supplied. “Not as much of a ‘Ron Factor’ but ‘Ron and Kim Paring Equation.'”
“It's no big, Monique,” said Kim. “She won't be around long, right?” She craned her head to make sure the last word was firmly directed towards the GJ agent.
“Just as long as I need to prove my theory,” said the blonde agent. “Once I get surveillance support, the research will be done remotely and I'll be out of your hair.”
“Hey,” Ron said suddenly, rejoining the conversation. “What's a ‘Universe Changing Event?'” He paused. “Aside from the obvious,” he added.
Kim tried to keep from appearing flushed again. Monique just laughed. “It's from our History class.”
“Ah, Dr. Rick,” said Ron, not sounding as happy as Monique.
“It's about the experiment I told you about yesterday,” Kim continued, looking elsewhere. “The ‘Explorative History’ one where he asked for a bunch of stories about the Junior Prom and then correlated what likely did and didn't happen based on where the stories matched.”
“You and Kim hooking up was in everyone's story,” Monique quickly said, unable to wait. “According to Rick, when something shows up exactly the same in every retelling, it's an absolute. They refer to it as a ‘Universe Changing Event’ because it was significant enough that everyone's ‘universe,’ or their lives, were altered at least slightly by it.”
Now Ron blushed. “Oh,” he said, and suddenly felt nervous about Kim's closeness.
“So how are your classes going, Monique?” asked Kim, saving Ron from having to say more on the topic.
“They're fine, girl, just the same-old-same-old first week stuff,” she waved her hand dismissively. “Introductions despite the fact we've been schooling together for three years now, preliminary homework to make sure we hadn't forgotten last year yet. Only History has been different, but you already know about that.”
Kim nodded.
“Hey, speaking of History again,” said Ron. “Did you know that guy Rick is loaded?”
“What, like a baked potato?” asked Monique, eyebrow arched.
“He said he had an ‘estate’ and that many of his collections have gone on tour at museums. Isn't that, like, Senior Senior Senior-level richness?”
“Not necessarily,” said Kim. “Although he did say he's pretty well off. Inheritance, I think he said.”
“Yeah,” nodded Monique. “He said his name is actually ‘Dr. Richard Vedas the fourth’ or something. Very big, Vanderbilt-style legacy stuff.”
“Then what's he doing in Middleton?” asked Ron.
“Teaching, apparently,” said Vicki suddenly. “I guess he likes doing it, even if the money isn’t all that.” She paused as everyone looked at her. “At least, that would be my opinion.”
“Riiight,” said Ron.
“I'm just trying to contribute.” It was Vicki's turn to blush.
“I'm not getting a bad vibe from him,” said Kim. “I don't think we need to worry. He doesn't feel like the Senior Senior Senior type of person.”
“All right,” Ron said, unconvinced.
Kim took a bite of her food, blanched, then broke out the apples again. She absent mindedly passed one to Ron and they both munched in unison. Monique smiled warmly while looking at them.
Vicki wasn't as pleased.
Tapping on glass woke Kim up from her sleep. It was late, Kim knew, she'd gone to bed just a few hours ago and now it was a ripe 2am. In the darkness, she fumbled around to find the edge of the bed and slip out, instinctively heading toward the stairs.
Tap-tap-tap.
Kim paused. Glass, her thoughts recalled, tapping on glass which probably didn't mean the front door. She looked around as the sound came again. Tap-tap-tap. It was close. Her own window?
Kim headed towards the curtains and carefully pulled them aside. Against the starlight, she could make out a thin form with exceptionally long hair cascading about the figure like a cape in the wind. Moonlight lit soft curves and pale skin.
Kim opened the window wide and the green form slipped silently in.
“What on Earth are you doing, Shego?” Kim asked, trying to keep her voice down so as not to wake her parents.
“Do you know what it's like to be incessantly followed around by someone you think has no business getting involved in your work?” Shego asked, seething from pent up rage.
Kim was about to repeat her question when she thought of the GJ agent that had started following Ron and her at school. She remembered being relieved that Vicki had not tried to get involved in their cheer practices. Ron's antics as the mascot were distracting enough, let alone Bonnie's careful gaze trying to find faults in the routine. “I have an idea,” she said.
“The only way to ditch that shrew was to sneak out at night,” Shego said, glancing around. “So, come on, lets get going.”
“Going?” Kim said as Shego walked around her room. “Going where?”
“I found out where this Gemini character is,” the green woman said, examining pictures on the dresser. She noticed a few of the do-gooder and her doofus sidekick being all lovey-dovey and made a face. “I'd rather have competent cannon fodder around while I grab Dr. D and Mrs. Lipsky doesn't quite cut it.”
“Cannon fodder,” repeated Kim. “You sure know how to convince me, Shego.”
“Oh please,” Shego turned and walked right up to Kim. “I know you, Pumpkin. I just have to hint that there might be some good to be done in the world and you're out with your hairdryer in one hand and your sidekick with his bald rat in the other faster than I can say ‘pathetic.'”
“I can't very well ignore someone asking for help,” Kim said in her defense. “It would be unethical. And I do have standards.”
“Standards?” Shego laughed. “Like what? I know you save kittens in trees just as easily as stopping floods in Mississippi and would-be world conquers in Africa. You may be blind, but I can see it all around you. You know who you're exactly like?”
“Who?” Kim said, folding her arms. “You, right?”
“You wish,” Shego said, narrowing her eyes. “Drakken.”
“What?” Kim almost yelled then covered her mouth. “How?” she whispered afterwards.
“You're both obsessed with this ridiculous goal you'll never stop thinking about. You've become so fixated on it you've warped your perspective on the rest of your life to accommodate it.” Shego smiled, slyly. “Just because he wants to take over the world and you want to save it doesn't mean you are any different in my book.”
Kim frowned, angrily. “If you want my help,” she said slowly. “Say no more.”
Shego just grinned. “Whatever you say, Ms. P.” She headed for the window and gracefully leapt out, blithely unconcerned about the two story drop.
Kim vibrated. “How dare she compare me to that psychopath?” She pulled out her mission uniform and started shedding her night clothes to pull on the black turtleneck and cargo pants. “Me? Like Drakken? Please.” Slinging her backpack onto her shoulder she grabbed her Kimmunicator on her nightstand and headed for the window. “When this is over, I'm going to drag her butt back to prison where she belongs. She clearly doesn't think of us a team.”
Kim looked down out the window to see Shego standing in the street next to her jet. Figures. Not like anyone would tow it for double parking.
She started climbing out the window then stopped. “This is MY house,” she said suddenly, and crawled back in. Minutes later she emerged from the front door with her Kimmunicator in hand.
“Come on, Princess,” said Shego, bored. “I don't have all night.”
“We have to wait for Ron anyway,” Kim said, putting the Kimmunicator away. She'd used it to call him while leaving the house. “He'll be just a minute.”
“Oh, no. Not the buffoon.” The green woman sighed. “I’m sure he'll be helpful when sneaking into a heavily armed evil organization's fortress.”
“I'm not doing this without him,” Kim said, firmly. Shego just rolled her eyes.
“Fine, whatever. But you're not sitting on my lap again.”
“Yes, I'd prefer to avoid that if at all possible,” Kim agreed.
“Kimmie?” Shego said in… well, she'd passed fury a long time ago and was now building up to a new form of anger that had previously been unclassified. She considered calling it Shanger, then reconsidered. That sounded about as lame as Drakken's attempts to claim ‘DrakCanada.’
“Yes?” Kim said, depressed, and already anticipating what was to come. They were flying at well over 40,000 feet in the air and she was hoping they could have avoided this conversation until after landing.
“I know -- I mean I am absolutely positive -- that I specifically said, you could NOT sit on my lap again,” the green pilot ebbed between violent fits of rage occurring in her head.
“You did,” said Kim. “I agreed.”
“THEN HOW THE HELL DID WE END UP LIKE THIS!” Shego screamed. The jet trembled in sympathy to it's owner's yell.
Kim sighed and craned her neck in the small cockpit to look behind her. Ron was sitting there, looking about a happy as Kim was, with Vicki Grimes on his lap. Of all the people in the space-constrained jet, the GJ agent seemed to be the only one not unhappy and Kim was starting to figure out exactly why.
“Ron,” Kim said. “Can you explain again for Shego?”
“I'd rather not,” replied her sidekick, looking ill. “It could result in an ‘emergency landing.'”
“I'm going to install a passenger ejector button after this is all over,” Shego said, grumbling as she tried to see her navigation cluster. They were getting close to the coordinates she'd coerced out of Omega, the former WWEE henchman.
“You are a,” Kim struggled for the right words, “combat-ready GJ agent, right?”
Vicki nodded. “Yes, I've been on more than one mission that dissolved into combat.”
“It wasn't your fault those missions went south,” Shego asked, hopefully. “Was it?”
“Oh no,” the GJ agent replied. “I'm quite certain it was a group effort.”
“Ugh,” Shego grunted. “Move your ass, Pumpkin, I can't see my altitude.”
Kim shifted slightly, blushing at this whole situation. She had not expected Vicki to have been monitoring their houses so closely that she would show up at Shego's jet. Although now Kim was starting to wonder if she was only watching Ron's house closely, otherwise Shego's arrival probably would have been what alerted her, and not the early-morning activity inside the Stoppable house.
The jet started a somewhat steep decline. “All right,” Shego said finally. “We're here. Just hang on. I have to come in low under their Radar.”
Shego righted the jet just as it was just a few feet above the slowly moving waves in the vast ocean.
Kim stared out at the serene twilight view. Once again Gemini's headquarters were located in the middle of the Atlantic. This time though, according to Shego's source, the base was much larger and not submersible, relying on a revolutionary camouflage system to avoid GJ detection. Looking forward, though, Kim could see nothing, not even the barest sign of a large, multi-leveled, evil headquarters.
“Maybe your guy was wrong?” suggested Kim, after several more minutes of low-altitude flying.
“Not if he wants to keep his arms,” said Shego. “We're almost there, don’t worry, Princess.”
Minutes passed and Kim still saw nothing on the horizon but the start of a slowly rising sun. Then, suddenly, they hit something. The jet vibrated against the strain but it was over seconds later. Kim was about to ask if they'd hit a bird or something when she saw the towering base in front of them.
“What the--”
“Active camouflage,” said Shego. “On a super-large scale. Rolls out like cellophane. Look.” She motioned behind her and started to slow down. Kim tried to see out of the corner of her eye and caught a glimpse of the edges of the camouflage, torn like a paper bag.
“Incredible,” Vicki said, crawling around Ron to get a better view out the back. Kim simmered internally. Oh yes, she'd have a talk with Agent Grimes when this was over.
Shego landed the jet on a lower level pylon on the base, which looked like a series of bubbles connected by a steel lattice. The small plane carefully touched down in the open hangar with a soft thud and powered off. The occupants quickly jumped down and looked around.
“Empty,” Shego said, eyes carefully looking over every nook and cranny. “Did we really avoid detection?”
“Or is it a trap?” suggested Kim. The two skillful warriors just looked at each other and nodded. They separated silently, each taking a different direction in the hangar. Kim waved Ron and Vicki on as they headed for a doorway while Shego leapt high up and crawled her way into a large ventilation shaft.
“What's going on?” whispered Ron as they quietly crept into a long hallway heading away from where they parked. Kim looked everywhere as they moved, and was pleasantly surprised to see Vicki watching their backs with the same intensity.
“It's too quiet,” said Kim. “Even if they didn't see us flying in, landing that jet should have set off alarms. This feels like a trap.” She scanned the ceiling for security cameras.
“What about Shego?” asked the sidekick. “Looking out for herself?”
“In a way,” nodded Kim but with none of the scorn Ron expected for such a reply. “Since there is three of us, there's a better chance we'll be spotted and assumed to be everyone in the jet. After the trap is sprung, Shego will be able to move around more freely.”
“Can we trust her?” asked Vicki, looking up at Kim for a moment. “She's evil, through and through.”
“You remember Aviarius?” asked Kim to Ron who nodded. “We should be able to trust her until she has what she wants, which in this case is Drakken.”
“All right,” said Vicki, wearily.
Kim frowned, however, as they padded for minutes through the corridors without encountering people. They did find some security cameras, and carefully dodged around them, but all the rooms they came across were empty.
“You know, KP,” said Ron. “I think we've been had. There's nobody here.”
Kim nodded as she pulled out her Kimmunicator. “Wade, I need you to scan this building and find me the fastest route to the command center.”
Wade's sleepy image appears on the screen. “Kim? What's going on?” He yawned.
“We've found what we thought was Gemini's base, but it looks like it's abandoned. Can you find me a quick route to the command center?”
The short kid blinked away the sleep and started typing. “I'm on it.” The three intruders huddled around the screen, watching closely. The screen suddenly changed to show a general schematic of the facility. “Okay, it looks like there's an elevator that will take you up to the top floor where the most systems seem to be routed.”
“Okay,” Kim said moving forward according to the map. “Can you get any lifesigns?”
“Hmm…” Wade frowned. “I'm not picking up very much. The command center seems to be shielded, so I can scan inside. But aside from there, I only see one other person, also heading in that direction.”
“That would be Shego,” nodded Kim. “So if it's a trap, it'll be up there on that floor.”
“Definitely.”
“Well, nowhere to go but up, then.”
Reaching the elevator, the group filed in and pressed their backs against the walls, trying to remain out of sight from anyone that might look, or more importantly, shoot at them from outside. Kim hit the button for the top floor and readied herself to leap out at the first sign of trouble.
The elevator slowly climbed upwards, blaring a strange voiceless version of an ‘Oh Boyz’ song that wasn't all that much better with vocals. Ron eventually sighed. “This is the tallest evil headquarters in existence,” he moaned.
With a ‘ping’ the elevator reached it's destination and the doors opened. The three waited inside for the commotion or at least a sign that someone noticed them. After a few seconds Kim peaked her head out and stared right into an irritated form that looked ready to rend steel as easily as her body.
“It's about time,” Shego said, placing her hands on her hips. “I've been waiting for five minutes here.”
“Shego?” asked Kim, walking carefully out of the elevator, followed closely by Ron and Vicki. “Nobody, huh?”
“Zilch,” Shego shook her head. “But they were here.” She held up a piece of paper. “They left a note for you.”
“Me?” asked Kim and took the paper. She read, “Sorry we missed each other, but I knew you'd come sooner or later so we decided not to stick around. I bet you don't think you're all that now, do you? Neener-neener-neener.” Kim looked up. “Dr. Drakken?”
“You betcha,” said Shego. “Nobody else has that four-year-old-child grasp of lingo but him.”
“I guess that means he's working WITH Gemini,” said Ron looking around.
“And building something,” Vicki said looking at a workstation filled with spare parts and test tubes filled with chemicals.
“So, turns out he wasn't kidnapped, then,” conclude Kim. “Just like you said back at his lair. Do you have any idea what they were building?” Kim looked at the angry looking Shego. “Or do we have to fight now that your boss is still active?”
“Hmm?” said Shego, noticing Kim speaking. “Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't listening.” She looked around. “No, this means he is up to something but the fool has decided not to include me. He's violating our contract and I have the right to deliver some major hurt on him.” She looked at Kim. “But to do that, we have to find him first.”
“Ookay,” Kim said, trying to find some sense of assurance in Shego's statements but failing. “So what were they making?”
“Explosives,” said Shego walking over to the workstation that Vicki was examining. “I've seen this stuff before. It's Drakken's micro-explosives that he developed a few years back. Looks like they were making a lot of them.”
Kim frowned. Explosives were not good, especially small ones. “What for?” she asked.
Dr. Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Director sipped on her coffee and examined the morning report from her desk at GJ Headquarters. The rotating shifts they used at GJ meant she was on the 4am to 6pm. Even though she was in charge, she had to cycle just like all the other agents, just in case a major event occurred in another time zone. When she was an agent, getting used to the cycles took a few months, but now, years later, it was habit.
She wondered one day if she'd be able to live a normal life again when she retired. Of course, with her security clearance, she'd probably be under assault for the remainder of her days, so such thoughts were foolish. Still, it would have been nice to have a normal day, perhaps living in Arizona, getting up in the morning, doing some craft or hobby all day, then going to sleep in the evening.
Betty tapped on her screen and paged through her morning report. She noticed a small update from her Middleton agent and read it quickly. Keeping track of Kim Possible was important to GJ, as she tended to get involved in many global events before the GJ even heard of them. Sending that agent to watch her had relieved several members of the tech department who had been trying unsuccessfully to hack into the Kimmunicator network. It was a much easier and cheaper alternative, but the information was slightly dated, and the agent couldn't be with Kim at all hours of the day.
Today's report, however, was pretty mundane. Simple day at school. Some commotion with teachers, a bit of infighting between Kim and her cheerleading classmates, then she went home after practice. Nothing else to report. Dr. Director nodded to herself and continued paging.
A slight noise distracted her and she looked up for the source. It sounded like a faint buzzing. She looked around her expansive office and eventually put her ear to the ventilation shaft and listened closely. The tinny whine was definitely echoing from there.
Dr. Director left her office, which led directly into the Command Center, where all of GJ's information funneled as well as facility surveillance. She walked over to Agent Commander Will Du standing behind the security officer. He saw her approaching and saluted.
“Dr. Director,” he said, stiffly, before putting his hand down and turning back to looking over the shoulder of the security office at his console.
“There's something in the vents,” said Betty, motioning above with her coffee.
“We know,” said Commander Du. “We just picked up the sound with our microphones in the junctions.”
“Can you isolate it?”
“Not yet.” The senior agent shook his head and pointed at the screen. A schematic of the vents showed a mass of red moving very quickly through the ducts. “It's moving very fast, we're having trouble closing the junctions in time to catch it.”
“What is it?” asked Dr. Director. “Wait, where is it heading?”
The agent tapped the shoulder of the officer who displayed the schematic on the huge screen at the front of the Command Center. Will walked past Betty up to the screen and pointed at the red mass and its projected destination.
“It will reach here in two minutes,” he concluded. He pointed at the Command Center on the map, highlighted in blue, and the mass of red moving through ducts heading right towards it.
“Close the vents, then!” said Dr. Director.
The Agent nodded. “It's already done, sir. We've closed off the vents at each of the secured areas in HQ. Whatever it is, it'll reach here and have to turn back. We just haven't been able to trap it in an intermediary junction where we can send agents to.”
“So what is it, then?” Dr. Director sipped her coffee, unsettled. It was not frequent that they had security events within GJ headquarters.
“We're not sure. Cameras haven't caught it, and it sounds like the buzz from an old TV or something. I think it's multiple, smaller, objects though, because our sensors indicate it more like a swarm.”
“Sir,” the officer called from the security station. “They've reached the Command Center.”
The buzzing got louder and Dr. Director could hear little taps of metal as whatever the things in the shafts were struck the closed steel vent doors that normally allowed air into the Command Center. The taps got louder and incessant before dying away and stopping altogether.
“Did they turn back?” questioned Dr. Director.
Commander Du turned around to look at the big screen. “No, they've just gotten into a holding pattern a fair distance away from the vent door. Most peculiar.”
Dr. Director turned to look at the map, then suddenly dropped her coffee as a loud explosion threw debris everywhere and covered half of the Command Center in a fine cloud. The buzzing was immediately louder as a swarm of green bugs funneled out of the hole in the wall where the vent door used to be.
“Lock down!” screamed Dr. Director as she pulled out her sidearm and started peering into the cloud of green bugs. They were moving in a swarm sweeping around the Command Center until they'd all exited the vents. A few of the bugs flew low and swept past the various consoles in the room.
Agent Du looked at one as it flew past. “They're Fly-On-The-Wall cameras!” he said suddenly. “Hundreds of them!”
Dr. Director narrowed her eyes. “Gemini.”
A group of a dozen or so flies broke apart from the swarm and settled over by one of the surveillance stations.
“They're stealing our surveillance!” said Dr. Director. “Shut it all down so that--”
She couldn't finish her sentence as the flies around the station exploded. Shards of metal went flying and threw dust up covering more of the center in a thick cloud. Glass and plastic scattered across the room and landed by the security officer who looked up in time to see another group of a dozen flies heading towards him. He didn't need to be told to run.
The security console, and much of the surrounding area, exploded as the flies touched down, the shockwave flinging the office partway across the room. Several corollary information stations and junctions suddenly went black as their data feed was severed. The big screen at the front of the room flickered and went dark as well. Dr. Director and Commander Du looked around in shock as several soldiers started filing into the Command Center in response to the Lock Down request issued earlier.
Dr. Director grabbed Will by the collar. “Get everyone out of here!” she yelled. “Technicians, officers, security -- everyone out!”
“Yes, sir!” yelled the agent as he launched himself through the chaos, running between exploding consoles and swarms of flies towards the security detail. He stopped by the bleeding form of the security officer and heaved him over his shoulder.
“Find everyone you can and evacuate,” the agent said as he finally reached the doors where the security detail arrived. “There were 2 technicians, 6 officers and Dr. Director in there!”
“What about the enemy?” asked a dazed security soldier.
“When everybody's out, close this place down and put up barricades in the vents. Bomb proof doors are the only thing that'll hold these guys in!” Will Du looked up at each the soldiers, wiping the blood of his face that spilled from the unconscious security officer. “They're too small to shoot. If you see a swarm coming towards you, don’t be heroes. Get everyone around you to safety and get behind a door!”
The security soldiers nodded but looked hesitant. “That's an order!” yelled Will for emphasis. The soldiers became firm again and ran into the thick of the smoke.
The agent turned to leave when he heard the buzzing get closer. He looked over his shoulder again to see a swarm of flies heading towards him.
Swallowing, his feet launched him forward and he ran as fast as he could down the hall only stumbling once under the weight of the officer on his shoulder. The buzzing was growing nearer with every second.
The corridor branched and he dodged to the right, slamming against the wall as he turned, dislocating the arm that wasn't holding the officer. Gritting his teeth to bite back the pain, Commander Du's legs burned as he pushed himself further and further.
Some of the flies had continued down the other branch at the corridor, but there were still more than enough on his tail to possibly kill him. He looked up and tried to think of a plan but the pain flooded his thoughts and dark spots swam in his vision.
“Why are they chasing me?” he yelled, frustrated, as he ran. “They didn’t chase anyone else!”
The door at the end of the corridor was approaching fast. He saw the sign above it and paled. “Communications Relay” it said in glowing red letters. They weren't after him, they were out to shut down the inter-agent network communications.
Will tried to imagine the chaos in the field of agents losing contact with each other and HQ but pushed it from his mind. He just told his soldiers not to be heroes, he couldn’t do something stupid just to save the network when he had a wounded man in his hands. Glancing back at the swarm, Will knew that there was nothing he could do anyway.
Preparing himself as he reached the large metal door leading to the relay, he breathed deeply, hoping he didn’t get himself killed by doing this.
When he was inches from the door he suddenly pivoted around, twisting his ankle in the process, and kicked off the door to dive back down the hallway under the swarm of bomb flies. The mechanical bugs soared overhead, ignorant of the two GJ agents that happened to be there, and headed for the door. Will dropped the security officer's body on the floor and quickly covered it with his own.
I wonder what your name is, thought Commander Du to the body before the door to the Communications Relay exploded, sending shards of metal into his back and a shockwave that blew the two down the hall and Will into unconsciousness.