Shego stood in shock at the carnage. She wanted to be glib, to crack a joke or at least make a sarcastic remark at the corporation of ‘heroes,’ something to remind Kim Possible and her lackeys who they were with… but she couldn't. For once, she was staring the in the face of true evil and she was disgusted.
“Dr. D would never have done this on his own,” she said as they moved through the wreckage of the Global Justice headquarters. “It's not-- he wants to take over the world, not destroy it.”
Kim, walking next to her, nodded slightly, her eyes so used to searching for danger, wouldn't stop taking in the pain on the faces of the wounded GJ agents and the blood on the walls that spoke of dozens more. Her hands shook slightly as they walked, following the GJ agent they met at the tarmac when Shego's jet landed.
They had come as soon as they heard. Wade contacted them first, just as they were leaving the abandoned WWEE headquarters. He'd had a few silent programs in the GJ mainframe that suddenly vanished without a trace, he knew immediately something was up. A little while longer, when the GJ network came back, Vicki was contacted by an Agent Christie Harper who notified them of the damage and emergency protocols in place. All agents were being recalled and a new command ladder had to be established while the upper echelons of the GJ were out of touch.
“Were you here?” Kim asked the agent in front of them as they walked. She tried to ignore the looks of wounded agents as they moved past but her instincts refused to let her. With all the acuity she had when normally in combat, her brain soaked up every image until it made her sick to her stomach. Kim glanced at Ron, who looked like a zombie, and Shego, who seemed to be suffering the same unsettling feeling as her.
“No, ma'am,” said the Agent. “I was stationed nearby and was one of the first to respond after the network failed.” Kim tried to come up with something else to ask, someway of generating small talk with the agent but failed. She silently marched instead.
The number of wounded people they were encountering increased suddenly as they reached a door marked ‘Infirmary.’ It was a strangely clean door, having neither the unsettling blood nor the char marks from explosions on it. Kim assumed, whatever the intent of Gemini, sick bay wasn't a primary target.
Thank god for little miracles, Kim thought as they entered the GJ hospital.
The smell of the emergency room pummeled Kim, who had long associated the aroma with her mother, only to see surgeons yelling at each other and quickly moving between patients performing instant diagnosis as well as surgery. They stopped only to clean their hands between bodies. The agent they were following silently motioned towards the back of the room. Kim and her companions continued to march on.
At the back of the hospital was another door, unmarked, but guarded by two GJ soldiers and a palm-print scanner. As Kim approached the guards stepped aside and pulled open the door, the palm-print scanner apparently having been bypassed. The four non-agents stepped forward and were sealed within.
The room beyond the guards was dimmed and only a small group of nurses were monitoring the two rows of patients. Some were visible, with cuts and bruises across their bodies but otherwise just a little worse for wear. Others had their curtains drawn, with nurses moving in and out of the sheltered areas frequently.
A nurse, dressed in a coat and gown but still in GJ colors, quickly moved up to the group. “Ms. Possible?” she said and received a nod in response. “This way, please.”
The march continued until they'd reached the second to the last set of beds in the room and were led past the curtains there. Inside lay the still body of a slightly older woman, her arm wrapped in white and held against her chest, and her head bandaged from her forehead down to her nose.
“Oh no,” Kim said softly as she realized she was looking at Dr. Director.
“Kim?” the bandaged director of Global Justice asked. Her voice was coarse and dry, as if she hadn't spoken in years and was just learning how. “Is that you?”
“Yes,” Kim replied after a moment. “I'm here with Ron, Agent Grimes, and Shego.”
“Heh,” Dr. Director chuckled slightly. “Looks like you got your view of the inside of GJ HQ after all, Shego.” She coughed a few times. “What do you think?”
“Well, it could use a little…” Shego trailed off. She couldn't do it. She wanted to vomit. “It shouldn't have been like this.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” Betty said, nodding as best as she could in the tight gauze wrapping. “Those explosives, Shego, could he have more?”
The green thief nodded, then realized the Director couldn't see through the wrappings over her eyes. “Yes. The materials at that hideout, there could be thousands more or none. I wouldn’t know.”
“Do you know how they are made?”
Shego blanched. If you ask me to build them, she thought. I'll leave right now, I don't care how bad you look. “I only know what goes into them, not how it all mixes.”
“Please tell one of the Agents on your way out,” the director said. “So they can determine their yield and begin a viable defense.”
“What did you do this time?” asked Ron.
“EMP bomb,” she replied. “Took out all of our technology not in the protected labs, but also neutralized all the flies.” She grimaced slightly. “Unfortunately, the explosives were not affected.”
Kim shook her head. “Kim,” continued Dr. Director. “Get out of this.”
“What?” Kim looked confused.
“Leave here and don't look back.”
Kim looked back at Ron who only shrugged. “I don't understand,” she said.
Dr. Director sighed. “I was being selfish before. Getting you involved in GJ affairs, offering you a position in our ranks. I wanted to get you on board without letting you know all the risks. These are the risks, Kim, the dangers of being a world-class espionage agency. You're a child -- seventeen years old -- you shouldn't have to look at this and you definitely shouldn't be asked to risk this.”
Kim frowned but said nothing. The GJ agent just continued. “The world is an awful place sometimes. We fight and steal and try to kill one another at the drop of a hat. Sometimes GJ gets there in time and stops the bloodshed, sometimes we get there too late. Sometimes, Kim, we have to cause the bloodshed.” She swallowed hard. “Looking back on it now, that's not something I'm prepared to subject you to. I'm sorry. My offer is rescinded.”
Kim stared, feeling… she wasn't sure. Confusion mixed with horror and understanding. She wasn't naïve, she knew the world was like this. But somehow, she thought she could get through it without being crushed by the depression of it all. She thought Dr. Director had done that, and Kim had admired and secretly cheered that it was possible.
But she hadn't avoided the jaded perspective. She'd just buried it under policy and faked enthusiasm for perfect justice. She wasn't the idol Kim was looking for, just another soldier in an army that questioned its motives every day. Did growing up have to mean giving up on your ideals? Wasn't there anyone who was both happy and aware of the truths of the world?
Kim looked at Shego, for reasons she wasn't aware of. The globetrotting thief, an expert in her field, jaded, sarcastic, always unhappy, and notably mean. And yet, she was just as disgusted at the mess in GJ HQ. She didn't have the answer to Kim's questions, she knew that, but maybe she had an answer.
Shego, in turn, saw Kim's look, and was immediately horrified. Why are you looking to me, Kimmie? she thought to herself. I'm not even on your side, let alone a shoulder to cry on. I can't do anything for you, even if you had to find out this way. Even if you had to find out about humanity the same way I did.
Shego turned away. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she walked away and back out to the Infirmary.
Kim felt the warmth of Ron's hands on her shoulders before even registering his proximity. “KP,” he said softly. “We should let Dr. Director get her sleep.” He softly urged her back out of the curtains and started the long walk back out to the surface. Vicki walked alongside him silently at first, then, just before they reached the emergency ladders she paused.
“I'll see you later,” she said awkwardly. “I need to report to my superior. It's possible I may get reassigned with so many people in the infirmary.” She looked away. “I don't think she's serious, you know. Dr. Director is a very tough woman but I think this might have been her limit. She'll probably apologize when she recovers.”
“Thanks, Vicki,” Ron said with a nod. He waited for Kim to start climbing the ladder then followed afterwards.
The two emerged on the surface to find dozens more GJ agents around than before. Apparently the recalled agents were regrouping on the private airfield, trying to plan their next move. Kim registered it in her mind, as she did everything else she'd seen this evening, and headed towards the jet.
Shego was standing by the small craft, leaning against the hull, trying to appear casual, but even with her arms crossed and the frown, there was still something in her green eyes that betrayed the tough exterior. Even Ron noticed something was bothering the tough-as-nails thief. She turned to look at Kim as they stood before her.
“I'll give you an out, Princess,” said Shego, as curtly as possible. “Just a professional courtesy, and one time only.”
“What are you saying, Shego?” asked Kim, the first words she'd said since Dr. Director talked to her.
“Look, I was once young and naïve as you are,” admitted Shego. “I did the hero thing, as you know. But, I found out some things that… put my life and what I was doing in perspective. It was very disturbing and I was off my game for a while.” She folded her arms. “This hero thing you do, it'll get you killed if you're not sharp enough. Distractions lead to mistakes and well, you know what mistakes lead to.”
Shego looked down at the pavement. “Say the word, and you'll never see me again.”
“You're giving up evil?” asked Kim.
“Did I say that?” Shego snarled, irritated. “I am evil, I can't give it up. I will always be evil and always be a criminal to you. I'm just saying, if I can help it, I'll keep us from crossing paths. I'll give you the same courtesy that Dr. Director just did.”
Kim closed her eyes and sighed. Too much had happened at once, she hadn't had the opportunity to really think things through. Ever since Drakken went ‘missing’ it had been one thing after another, with very small breaks in between. Everyone was expecting Kim to know what she wanted all of a sudden. She wasn't sure yet what her goals were, what she wanted her life to mean, and who she wanted to have around her during it. But there was one thing she was sure of.
“I know a cop-out when I hear it,” Kim said, clarity returning to her eyes. “That's not a courtesy, Shego. Not what you're offering nor what Dr. Director was offering. She wasn't trying to protect me and neither are you. You're both trying to absolve yourself of guilt for getting ‘innocent Kim Possible’ involved in your deadly lives.”
“You ungrateful little--” Shego started, but Kim held up her hand.
“You didn't get me involved in anything, Shego.” Kim stood strong. “I put myself in this life, and I set myself up to cross paths with you. Not specificallyyou, mind, but all the same, I made a choice to fight the kind of evil you and Drakken represent. I also made the choice to fight the evil Gemini represents, even if it turns out to be a darker, more serious kind of evil.”
Kim frowned. “I don't want to hear about you sparing me anything. If you're going to steal something, I'll go to stop you. There's no element of control you have there, Shego. I will always stop you.”
Shego blinked, then allowed the very corners of her lips to curl every so slightly. “That's awfully arrogant talk, you've got there.”
“Maybe,” said Kim looking to the side. “But then again, anything is Possible for a Possible.”
“Oh, okay, that's just about the lamest saying you've got,” Shego quipped. “Word games with your name? Please. I don't even let Drakken get away with that.”
The mention of Drakken brought back a few heavy feelings about what as going on in GJ headquarters and neither girl felt comfortable. “We're going to find out what this is all about,” Kim said, assuredly.
“Yes, we will,” Shego said, arching her brow at the cheerleader. “The question is, where to?”
“Oh, home of course,” said Kim, looking to a sleepy Ron beside her. “We've got classes, you know.”
“Classes? That's your big plan?”
Agent Vicki Grimes was starting to get annoyed standing at attention. She'd been called into her former office almost thirty minutes ago by Acting Director Jennifer Cartwright but had been largely ignored while the new Agent-In-Charge was distributing orders to other agents trying to make sense of the chaos that had occurred the previous night. Vicki had reluctantly given over her office to the mid-thirty's brunette when it was casually explained that since the Command wing of HQ was decimated, the Research wing was naturally being co-opted to replace it. Many of Vicki's colleges that had offices in Research were unhappy but given the circumstances, it was impossible to complain.
Still, Acting Director Cartwright was certainly taking her time and being rude to the agent whose office she now occupied. Vicki knew change was in the wind when she was called by the agent, but she hadn't realized that it was going to be in the expectation of manners.
“Sorry to make you wait, Agent Grimes,” Director Cartwright suddenly said, dismissing the other agents in the office and waving Vicki forward. “As you can imagine, just the simple act of recalling all of our agents has become a nightmare. We've got communications using cell phones, of all things, to get reports from our Far East operatives. There are some procedures for communicating over unsecured lines but, unfortunately, they haven't been enacted in years. Nobody really knows them well.”
The Acting Director put pushed her dark bangs out of her face and opened up one of several manila folders on the desk. Vicki noticed her own copies of the Ron Factor reports had been swept to the side and now lay in an unorganized pile in the corner of the room… next to the trash can. The blonde simmered.
“Agent Victoria L. Grimes,” said Cartwright. “I see here you were recruited for our accelerated program.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Vicki. “I was contacted by the head of Agent Recruitment when I was sixteen. He was interested in my preliminary work in Behavioral Dynamics, which were really just scribbles I did during the university classes I audited in High School.”
“You were made an agent later that year,” continued the Acting Director. “Assigned to the accelerated agent program, your field training was done in Munich, your preliminary research assignment in Barcelona. How did you end up in Middleton, then?”
“I was called to do some work on the Ron Factor research,” Vicki said. “Project 25295J. I was allowed to stay onboard here in HQ Research afterwards in order to be closer to the University I'm pursuing my doctorate at.”
Cartwright nodded. “Your field work is minimal but successful. There is one file here, from a mission you participated in in Prague. Your partner, a Lisa Weller, attempted to go rogue during a simple disable-and-capture assignment. A report from Agent Biggs here says you had a violent struggle with your partner over the matter but ultimately you prevailed and reported the event to your superior. Agent Weller was turned over to GJ Internal Security and you were offered a permanent position in Biggs’ Prague team after you recovered from injuries suffered during Weller's attempted subversion.”
“I declined, ma'am,” replied Agent Grimes, getting annoyed. That was the last memory she wanted to dredge up. “I have no interest in that kind of field work, I prefer research. And, if you don't mind me asking, why are we discussing my history with GJ?”
“Because I want to get a proper understanding of your personality and abilities.” The Acting Director closed the file. “You have a gift for detail and for understanding the relationships between both literal and figurative objects. I want you on the team to figure out how we were infiltrated.”
“I-infiltrated?” Vicki was confused. This is the first she'd heard of any ‘infiltration’ occurring at GJ. “I was under the impression the Fly-On-The-Wall bombs came through the air ventilation shafts through the service ducts.”
“That is true,” nodded Cartwright. “But they were only detected after reaching the first operational level. No intrusion detection was recorded, no shaft entry alarm triggered, no proximity alarm to any GJ service entrance. Several layers of perimeter security were completely circumvented by the drones. I fail to believe in luck.”
Vicki's eyes widened. “Somebody knew how to get the flies into GJ headquarters,” she realized.
“Indeed. They entered mostly without detection and knew exactly where to strike to disable us. This was an inside job or was assisted by inside information.” The Acting Director stood and walked over to Vicki and looked her in the eyes. They were almost the same height, Grimes thought.
“I appreciate you allowing me to use your office,” Cartwright continued. “I'm afraid I must ask something bigger of you, however. Become skeptical of your friends here at Global Justice. Someone did something unethical and wrong, and it could have been anybody, even people you normally trust. The team you will be joining is reviewing everybody's service record, all their relationships, and all communications coming in and out of this base. They will be examining whatever non-magnetic records exist of the event, and trying to determine the exact locations of every agent leading up to the attack. I need you to use that gift of relationship finding and see the connection between the attack and the agent who leaked the information. Finally, I need you to keep everything confidential outside of the team. Even me, as I'm as much as a suspect as anyone.”
Vicki wavered. The weight of what she was being asked to do was almost crippling. “Are you sure I'm the right person for this?” she asked, weakly.
“I do,” nodded the Agent-In-Charge. She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to Grimes. “This will gain you access to the secure room on level 5 where the rest of the team is. Please report there.”
Vicki took the card and nodded, saluting once. Turning on her foot she left the office. The agents outside the doors saluted to her as she passed and then entered the office, leaving her in the hallway alone.
Kim woke suddenly and blinked to clear her eyes of the sleep that had so suddenly taken a hold of her. Being up almost all night infiltrating bases and witnessing horrors at GJ headquarters were finally taking their toll on the seventeen-year-old and she had passed out during 1st period. She looked around the room to get her bearings.
On the good side, she was in her History room, which was the class she had first period. On the bad side, it was empty save for Dr. Rick busy writing at his desk. A quick glace at the clock confirmed that it was no longer first period. Kim screamed internally at herself for sleeping through most of the class AND the two bells between first and second period.
Dr. Rick looked up as Kim started to gather her books up. “Ah, you're awake,” he said with a concerned look on his face. He walked slowly over to her as she stuffed the books into her backpack.
“I'm sorry, Dr. Rick,” said Kim, zipping the bag. “I'll make it up, just tell me what we did and I'll read up tonight.” She slung the bag over her shoulder and started to get up.
“Hang on,” the teacher said as he reached her and sat on a nearby desk. “You don't have to rush. I told your physics teacher you were running an errand for me and would be late. She was fine with it.”
Kim sighed in relief. “Thank you, I really appreciate that.” She collapsed back into her chair. “I just had a long night.”
“Maybe you should go home,” suggested Rick. “If you're so exhausted you might want to try to get some real sleep. I can call your parents for you.”
“No, no,” Kim waved her hands. “It's okay. I really should be used to this by now.” She thought for a second. “Also, the pep rally is today and if I'm not in it, I'm pretty sure Bonnie will demand my head on a stick.”
The teacher laughed. “Bonnie… Rockwaller, right?” he said with a smile. “She's in my 4th period class. I don't know if I'd consider her dangerous, just a little proud.” He thought for a moment. “Very bright though.”
“She's intent on proving herself better than me.” Kim shook her head. “She thinks just because I miss a few practices while off saving the world it means I'm not committed to cheerleading.”
“I don't suppose you've done anything to goad her on, have you?” Rick asked with an arched brow.
Kim looked abashed. “Well, maybe… it's not like I'm going to stand there and let her push me down!”
“That's funny,” said Rick without laughing. “I wouldn’t think someone like you would care what others think.”
“I don't, really. It's just, well, it's Bonnie.” Kim looked at her teacher out of the corner of her eye. “She's a special case.”
Now Rick laughed. “Don't worry about it, you're young I won't hold it against you. Here, let me walk you to your next class so I can make sure Mrs. Kalvis doesn't get on your case.” He stood up and motioned to the door.
“Thanks,” Kim said as they left the room. “Not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you being so nice to me? I don't even know you.”
“Didn't Ron tell you?” The dark haired teacher ran a hand through his hair.
“He told me I've saved a couple of artifacts you own in the past, but that seems more like a ‘favor-type’ thing. You've been acting like Ron and my guardian angel the past few days.”
“Well, actually, the other teachers are going to get suspicious if I keep that up, so don't expect as much leeway with me in the future,” Dr. Rick admitted. “But, honestly, I don't think a thoughtful person should be penalized in life for sticking their neck out to save the everyman from trouble. You act like we all should, Kim, and not only that, you seem to have inspired your close friends to do the same. If I can contribute to allowing something as infectious as being a good person spread, then I rest easier at night.”
Kim blushed. “Thanks, Dr. Rick.”
“Don't go thinking you deserve special treatment,” he reminded her. “Even if you're doing good, breaking the rules always has a price.”
Kim nodded as they reached her classroom. “Thanks again, Dr. Rick.”
The teacher raised his voice so the classroom could hear. “Thank you for your help, Ms. Possible, sorry to delay you.” He winked at her where no one could see.
“You're welcome,” Kim said with a smile then entered her class to find her seat. Rick watched from the doorway for a moment, stopping to wave at his fellow teacher, before turning to head back to his room.
An empty villa was the last thing that Shego expected to see when she finally returned after getting her jet refueled. After witnessing the horror that was GJ headquarters, Shego was ready to give Andy Lipsky the third degree about what her son had done. The ex-villain may have claimed not to know about Dr. Drakken's quest for world domination, but the charade to keep her in the dark had gotten very old. If Dr. D really was working with Gemini to do the sort of things Shego had seen last night, then she wasn't against letting his doleful mother in on the truth.
But she wasn't there.
Neither was Omega, the Gemini henchman who'd revealed the location of the WWEE base, which didn't bother Shego on it's own but combined with the absentee mother, seemed much more significant.
There was a note, however, addressed to Shego. Annoyed and curious at the same time, the international thief picked up the paper and read it carefully. It was from Mrs. Lispky.
“I have a meeting of the Rotary Club tomorrow so I decided to head home. That nice man with the Greek letter on his chest wanted to go and since you got the information you needed I told him it was okay. Please make sure Drewby calls me the minute you rescue him so I know he's all right. Don't stay out too late and please don't get my son caught up in any more of your villainy.”
Shego raised an eyebrow and couldn't decide if she was happy the shrew was gone or upset that she released her prisoner without asking. Not that she was going to do much more with Omega aside from maybe interrogate him a little to make sure he didn't know of any other Gemini bases. She didn't really expect him to be useful again.
Ultimately, Shego smiled. Yes, it was a good thing Lipsky was gone. She could finally get back to her vacation. Relax in the sun, get back on Juarez's schedule. Just let Kimmie take care of this Drakken-Gemini business. Shego was not a hero, she was evil! It was far time she did something fun, something to remind herself how good she was. Maybe rob a bank or a jewelry store. Yes. Kim might even come to stop her, which would be great! She could show up that brat for what she said to her last night.
But first, she'd catch some of the sun she'd missed in the last few days. Without a second thought, Shego peeled off her green and black uniform and tied a two-piece on. Slipping a pair of sunglasses onto her nose she grabbed a towel and exited her Caribbean villa to hit the sands.
The sun was warm on her skin and she almost giggled at how nice it felt. Digging through abounded lairs twice in one week was dirty work and cramped all her muscles up from being combat ready the whole time. Now she could unwind, let her guard down, and soak up vacation she was on before Mrs. Lipsky interrupted her massage.
The carnage Gemini caused occupied just a small portion of her thoughts, dark in the corner. She could ignore it for now, right? There were more than enough capable people out there trying to fix things, what more good could Shego do anyhow?
Shego barely shivered when she thought of those GJ agents, many of which were unarmed scientists, who had gotten caught in the micro-explosive blasts. She also felt only slightly dirty when she thought of the hand she'd played in helping Drakken research how to make those bombs. She also only tasted a little bile in her throat when she imagined what the next attack will look like if someone didn't stop Gemini.
The thief frowned and felt ill. Then she almost sprained her wrist when she slammed her glowing palm into the sand and yelled. “Dammit, I'm not going soft!”
She stood up, headed back toward her villa, and got out a fresh green and black uniform. As she prepared herself to fly back to Middleton, she tried to ignore the tiny voice in her head that was proud of her for not giving up.
Monique looked at her lunch table and sighed. “Okay, so the perky chica with the Ron obsession is suddenly gone after indicating yesterday that she'd be impossible to remove. The two of you look like whatever you did last night it wasn't sleep and Ron seems disappointed.” She pointed at her cohorts with a spoon. “Do I have to guess what happened or are you just going to tell me?”
Kim sighed and stared at Monique. “So not the drama, Monique,” she said and ate her glop. She'd forgotten the apples this morning, among other things. “We were up late last night dealing with the Gemini attack on GJ. It was…” she shivered, “pretty awful.”
“Details?” inquired Monique.
“No, I don't think I can talk about it right now,” Kim shook her head. Her Kimmunicator chimed. “Or maybe I will,” she added, pulling out the pocket computer. “What's the sitch, Wade?”
“Kim,” nodded Wade. He looked energetic, which made Kim envious. “I've been scouring the net looking for any new or leads that could lead to Gemini, just like you asked.”
“And you found something?”
“I think so,” Wade said, then changed the screen on the Kimmunicator to show a map with five red dots on it. “In the last six hours there have been a series of coordinated thefts across the world, which all started the moment Gemini's attack started. I don't think it's a coincidence.”
“Neither do I,” Kim said, frowning. “So the attack on GJ was just a diversion?”
“Some diversion,” mumbled Ron, as he had his head in his arms, trying to catch a quick nap.
“Not a diversion,” Wade's face returned to the screen. “GJ watched a majority of these sites on their global security network. If any of them had been hit they would have known and notified the other sites. But last night their whole communication and security network failed because of the attack. The intra-network alerts didn’t sound so the other locations on the security list didn't know there had been breaches.”
“That was their goal?” asked Kim. “To disable the security on a few… buildings? What was stolen?”
“Seven central American artifacts.” The screen changed again to show pictures of the seven pieces. “Old pieces, parts of a whole set of collections around Aztec mythology.”
“All Aztec pieces? Is there any connection to them?” Kim puzzled. “Gemini doesn't seem like the collector sort, and this was a big plan to enact just to take a piece of history.”
“I'm not sure,” said Wade, changing the view on the Kimmunicator again. “They were all classified as being from different areas of the Aztec civilization, parts of different tribes and with different histories. If there's some connection, aside from general geography, I'm not sure what it is.”
“No big,” said Kim. “We've got our own resident expert.” She shut off the Kimmunicator and tapped Ron on the shoulder to wake him up.
“Dr. Rick?” asked Monique.
Ron yawned and began to stand. Kim just nodded. “He said it was his specialty on the first day. ‘Central American Archeology.’ Come on, Ron.”
The blonde sidekick seemed to shake off his tired expression as Kim urged him forward and was soon back to his lively self. “You don't think we'll get to sleep at all this week, do you?” he asked.
“Only if the world stops being in danger,” Kim said with a smile.
“That's a no, isn't it?” Ron said. Kim said nothing as they approached Dr. Rick's classroom and noticed him outside of the room on his cell phone.
“No, I'm afraid not,” Rick said into the small plastic device. “I'm not really interested in what you think, I was only doing this as a favor to--” He paused then scowled. “You know this is exactly why I didn't want to get involved with you folk, you're all way too bossy for your own good.” He paced around and noticed Kim and Ron approaching. His scowl softened. “I'm sorry, but I hope things work out for you and if she ever comes back tell her to call me.” He paused for a second more then hung up the phone.
“Dr. Rick?” asked Kim as they reached him. “Is everything all right?”
The teacher smiled. “Yeah, I'm just having a dispute with some people at the University. They want to change the focus of my research to something more commercially viable.” He looked lost in memories for a moment. “Keana would have a fit if she was still around.”
“Keana?” asked Ron. “She an old girlfriend?”
“In a way,” said Rick. “She devised a part of the Explorative History discipline called Theoretical Anthropology. I worked with her for many years as she searched for evidence of this Dark Ages mystic she insisted existed.” He sighed. “She died before her time.”
“Oh,” said Ron, awkwardly. “I'm sorry.”
“Anyway, I have a class, kids, so if you excuse me.” He turned to open the door to his classroom.
“Wait, Dr. Rick,” said Kim quickly. “I wanted your opinion on something.” She pulled out the Kimmunicator. “These artifacts were stolen earlier this morning. They're all ancient Aztec pieces and I wondered if you knew of any connection between them.”
The teacher hesitated. “Well, I'll take a look, but I can't take much time.” He took the Kimmunicator and looked at the screen. “I could give you a better opinion if you came back…” he trailed off.
Kim waited for a second then, when Dr. Rick frowned, she turned to Ron, who only shrugged. “What's wrong?” she asked.
Rick pressed a button on the Kimmunicator and frowned deeper. “These aren't Aztec artifacts, they're Mayan. These pieces make up the Mantle of Tenoch.”
“Who's Tenoch?” asked Kim.
“He was the legendary founder of the Aztec civilization,” said Dr. Rick, running his free hand through his hair. “He was supposed to be a mighty man, he foresaw the future of his people as a great empire and the trouble that would lead to their downfall. I wrote a thesis on him for my decorate.”
“Wait a minute, Dr. Rick,” said Ron. “You just said it wasn't Aztec.”
The teacher looked up from the screen. “It's not. Tenoch claimed the Mantle as his own but he didn't make it. He found it among the ruins of a Mayan temple and wore it. Some tales claim it gave him supernatural powers, even the ability to foresee the future.”
“Supernatural powers?” asked Kim. “But those are just legends.”
“Possibly,” said Rick. “Who could tell? The mantle was long through to have been lost. Probably because these pieces were all classified wrong and spread across five different collections. Not to mention everything that was either destroyed or redistributed during Cortez's conquest made it hard to trace.”
“So, it's possible that wearing this Mantle will give the thieves supernatural powers?” Kim asked, frowning.
“Oh, no, not at all,” said Rick with a smile. He pressed another button on the Kimmunicator and held it out to Kim. “They're missing a piece.”
Ron and Kim examined the screen, it showed a helmet. “But, this was stolen this morning, I already told you that.” Kim looked confused.
“That,” Dr. Rick pointed to the screen for emphasis. “Is a fake. It's a very well done copy of the original that the owner had made because the original was too valuable to put on tour.”
“Ookay,” said Ron suspiciously. “How do you know that?”
“Because the original is in my private collection in my family's building in New York City.” Rick smiled. “That one is labeled as a fake, but nobody knows the truth about it but me and now you two.”
“Way to go, Dr. Rick,” cheered Ron.
“When they put together that Mantle, they're going to wonder what's wrong,” Kim mused. “It's possible they'll go after the piece you have.”
“Good luck on that,” said Rick. “I have some of the best security in the world guarding my building.”
Kim blinked. “It wouldn't happen to be Global Justice, would it?”
Rick gaped. “How did you know?”
Ron sighed. “There's something you should know about your ‘top security in the world.'”
“You look like the toy addition to a Kid's Meal,” grumbled Dr. Drakken, bound to a simple chair in the command center of WWEE's now primary base of operations. The hideout was essentially a giant star, with a giant operations room in the center and stalks that led out to five different sub-rooms, each smaller than the primary one, that all had different purposes. Right now most of Gemini's henchmen had gathered in the center room to witness the ‘crowning’ as the mastermind had coined it, but a few still existed in the wayward branches of the base, their actions being shown on the huge array of security monitors on the east wall.
“You're just grumpy because I'm going to wear the Mantle first,” snapped Gemini, holding the Helm of Tenoch in his hands. A giant spotlight (which Drakken noticed Gemini seemed to enjoy putting in his bases) shown down in the center of the big room, illuminating the main console that Gemini sat at and the area around it where Dr. Drakken had been tied. Gemini himself was standing on his chair, one foot on the console, and holding the last piece of the Mantle in his hands. Nearby, the shaking, perpetually nervious Pepe, Gemini's pet Chihuahua, was being held in henchman Beta's hands.
“I'm grumpy,” said Drakken, “because you don't seem to know what a ‘team’ is.” He hopped with the chair to turn to face Gemini directly. “You agreed to a partnership for the use of my micro-bombs and then just took them from me when I was done without telling me what you were using them for and now you have this fancy superhero mask that you won't even let me try on for my trouble.” Drakken pouted. “You're not going to make many friends that way!”
“I won't need to make friends,” sneered Gemini, moving the Helm above his head. “Once I've got power akin to a god.”
Drakken struggled against his ropes then sighed. “Even Shego's never stolen my glory like this.”
“Quiet.” Gemini postured. “Behold, men, my ascension!” He closed his eyes and slowly brought the helm towards his head.
“I've never abandoned a lair without being kicked out before either,” Dr. Drakken muttered loudly.
Gemini paused, and opened one eye. “Are you quite finished?” he asked.
“It's bad form!” the doctor yelled. “A lair is like a villain's home! You can't abandon your home if you can help it! You just gave it over to Kim Possible!”
Gemini sighed. “It was all part of the greater plan to get the Mantle of Tenoch. Now, please, be quiet, this is an important moment for everyone here.”
“Bah,” grunted Drakken. “It's an important day for you, the rest of us only get to watch.”
“I assure you, once I am as like a god I will use my infinite power to benefit us all.” Gemini nodded assuredly. “I promise.”
“You promised to work WITH me to get that toy, that turned out lousy.” Drakken looked over at the collected henchmen. “Does he really ever keep his promises?”
The henchmen looked confused at one another. A man with a Sigma sign on his chest spoke up. “With us or himself?”
“With you of course!” yelled Drakken. “That's what this is all about. Is he down with the hiz-azz or will he leave us high and dry?”
“Generally speaking?” clarified Sigma.
“Yes!”
“Then no, not really,” said Sigma. “Most of us don't live to see the end of his plans because he terminates anyone who fails him. Since it's not in the contract that he can do that, he's technically cheating us.”
Drakken boggled. “Then why are you all still around if he's that mean?”
“Because he terminates anyone who tries to leave as well,” the henchman continued. “It's a secrecy thing.”
“Wow,” said Drakken in wonder, then he paused. “Oh, that doesn't bode well for me now does it?”
Sigma shook his head.
Drakken pouted. “I miss Shego.”
“Excuse me?” said Gemini impatiently. “I am in the middle of becoming a god here, can we be insubordinate afterwards when I can smite you all with a thought? My arms are really getting tired.”
“Very well,” grumbled the prisoner.
“Thank you.”
Gemini's hands slowly brought the helm downwards. The pace seemed to slow the closer it got to resting on his scalp. Even Drakken craned his head in anticipation. He'd never witnessed the coronation of a god before and was wondering if the lightshow would be as impressive as other ‘magical’ devices he'd heard of.
Eventually the helm touched down on Gemini's head and he raised his hands, palms wide to the sky, opening his eyes wide.
And waited.
After that, he waited a little more.
“Nnng,” Drakken made noise. “Is it working?”
“Hang on,” said Gemini, moving one of his hands to hold up a finger. “I feel something.”
“What's it like?”
“A tingling sensation in my head,” explained the soon-to-be-deity. “It's like… like…” he struggled for the words before finally pulling off the helm and staring into the pit.
“What is it!” said Drakken, eager.
“Looks like fourteenth century dandruff,” frowned Gemini. He shook his head instinctively.
“It didn't work, did it?” said Drakken, amused. “All this trouble for a Halloween costume.”
“Quiet yourself!” yelled Gemini. “It should have worked. Something must be wrong.”
“In my experience,” lectured the blue villain. “Magics are nothing but trickery. Now science, there's the true magic.” He nodded sagely. “Now, if we build a giant death ray--”
Gemini scowled and stormed up to Drakken poking his finger between the prisoner's eyes. “Say no more,” he grumbled. The doctor silenced, if only for the moment.
Gemini thought for a moment then walked back to the large control panel. “When all pieces are assembled, there should have been a reaction,” he said pressing buttons. “All of our research points to this.” A translucent screen appeared showing all the pieces of the Mantle that the head of WWEE was wearing. “Is there a time or a location element that I’m missing?”
“Your research was probably lousy,” mused Drakken. “You should consult the source.” Gemini stared daggers at the doctor. “At least, that would be what I would do if my calculations failed.”
Gemini opened his mouth to yell but paused, then studied the screen again. He rubbed his goatee idly. “Yes, that may not be a bad idea.”
The tall, long brown haired history teacher picked up another fallen piece of decorations after the lengthy but generally successful Pep Rally that had occurred earlier in the day. Middleton High was known for it's energetic assembles, he had learned, and what was performed during the last period of the day was nothing short of a Superbowl halftime show.
Well, at least as far as energy was concerned. There were no explosives or scandalous malfunctions that marked the commercial football display. Just kids with nothing on their minds except trying to generate excitement for a new school year and the start of the football season. Nothing brought high school students together more than skimpy cheerleader outfits and nonsense games with quarterbacks.
Dr. Rick chuckled to himself as he pulled down a banner and started crumpling it up. He had agreed to stay after school to help clean up with Mr. Barkin, but the latter had found a few ‘delinquents,’ as he called them, smoking behind the school and had gone to deliver his famous reprimands. The ex-military officer turned substitute teacher turned… well, Rick wasn't sure what you'd call a teacher who seemed to permanently substitute half the classes in the school aside from overworked. The man called himself ‘stern, but fair’ and the history teacher had to admit that it was an accurate statement, even if the man seemed single-minded at times.
The large gym had long shadows stretching across it as the sun slowly began to set. It was starting to get late, but thankfully Rick was almost done with his cleanup work. The smaller things, like dropped pencils, dirt and paper, would be picked up by the overnight janitorial staff. The teacher was only responsible for the larger decorations, then he could head home for the weekend.
Assuming Barkin ever finished reprimanding those students so he could lock up the gym.
Rick closed the last trash bag and headed for the hallways out to the bulk of the school. Barkin had to be around somewhere, maybe the history teacher could appeal to his reasonable side again if only to keep the kids from having to be in detention until 2025.
“Mr. Barkin?” called Rick as he entered the administrative wing of the school. The lights were on but he could see no sign of the massive teacher. Even the kids he should have been reprimanded were missing.
A soft crack echoed down the halls and caught Rick's attention. “Hello?” he called out experimentally. The sound had come from the halls leading to the music rooms. Rick shrugged and followed the sound.
The soft squeak of a rubber shoe against polished floors was the only sign of the purple suited henchman that had crept up behind the history teacher. Instinct taking over, Rick pivoted quick on one foot to see the muscular man with a Iota on his chest and holding a large canvas bag.
Sliding one foot back and raising his hands defensively, Rick narrowed his eyes at the henchman. “What do you want?” he asked, just to be sure what was happening.
The henchman said nothing when suddenly darkness fell over Rick as something covered his eyes and strong arms grabbed him from behind. The teacher struggled violently, kicking his legs around and trying to push against the muscular arms. The Doctor was tall and thin but not weak, and he felt the arms move slightly back against his push before a second pair of arms tackled him and held him against he ground with knees pressed into the small of his back.
The WWEE soldier that had grabbed the teacher from behind looked up at Iota. “Man, this guy is stronger than he looks,” he said comparing the size of his own muscles to the shape in the canvas bag.
Iota just rolled his eyes. “Don't be impressed by our prison,” he grumbled. “Just tie him up so we can get out of here. I hated high school.”
“That's a shame,” came a young, female voice from the end of the hall. The soldiers looked up in surprise and saw a red haired girl in a black turtleneck and olive pants. “I kinda like it here.”
“Kim Possible,” said Iota as the girl in question starting running towards them. In response, Iota reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box that looked like a car alarm and hit a button.
The world suddenly turned on its side. Kim grabbed her head and tried to right herself as she felt the floor surge and turn to become 90-degrees from where it was before. Her whole body felt like Jell-o as she tried to stare through the blurry vision at the henchmen who she couldn’t’ be sure were even there anymore. The ground rushed up suddenly as she collapsed.
“What's… going on?” she said, feeling nauseous. She wasn't sure if she was lying still of flying through the air at 90 miles per hour. It was all very disorienting.
“Kim!” the sound of Wade's voice suddenly echoed in her ear. “Are you all right?”
“Wade,” she muttered then almost lost her lunch. “Feeling… weird.”
“Hang on,” he assured her. The familiar tapping from his computer seemed like a nice to concentrate on, so Kim focused on it, trying to draw stability from the constant noise. After a few seconds Kim felt rapidly better. “There,” said Wade, conclusively.
Kim's vision cleared and she stood immediately. “What was that all about?” She looked around and saw the henchmen were gone and the only thing left behind was the small black car alarm.
“It's a sonic disrupter,” said Wade, speaking through the earpiece Kim was wearing. “It's emitting a sound that resonates with the fluids in your head that normally allow for balance. I'm generating a disrupting wave from the Kimmunicator that's canceling the effects. You should probably turn off the source, though.”
Kim stomped on the car alarm that cracked and crumbled under her heel. She looked back down the hall and noticed the door to the outside at the end slightly ajar. She dashed down it and ran into the courtyard in time to see the action.
Shego was standing between the henchmen, her hands glowing green, as they took turns attacking her from different angles. Her skill was obviously greater than the uniformed WWEE henchmen, but they were growing in numbers as a floating craft lingered nearby with a half dozen more men rappelling down from it.
Kim watched as Shego very easily held her own against the swarm of men, each leaping at and punching her at the same time. Shego obviously had a lot of practice fighting against a group. Her smirk, that Kim always noticed during their own battles, was ever present. She reveled in the battle, the cheerleader realized. But she was holding back, and Kim knew why.
Eventually the mob grew too great for Shego to keep track of everyone who wasn't actively attacking her and the tied up body of Dr. Rick was quietly snatched away. By the time Shego realized where the body had gone, the henchmen were already climbing onto the flying vehicle. The villainess cursed and launched herself over the henchmen's heads and ran towards the craft, flinging bolts of green energy at the ducking soldiers.
The craft was pitted and scarred by the blasts, but soared off all the same, heading into the setting sun. Shego stood, angry, as they got away, and extinguished her green flames.
Kim ran up beside Shego and tried to track the small metal vehicle against the bright sun but lost it in moments. Shego sighed. “Took you long enough to show up,” she sneered at the cheerleader. “I saw you by the door.”
“I didn't want to ruin your fun,” said Kim. “And you seemed to be having fun.”
“Feh,” Shego said with a wave of her hand. She turned to look at the remaining henchmen. Those that were not unconscious had run off, leaving their fallen brethren behind. “These guys are amateurs. No skill at all, just size on their side.”
“They still managed to steal Dr. Rick from you,” Kim said, smirking.
“I saw them!” Shego said, defensively. “They dress in giant purple jumpsuits, how could I miss them? I let them think they surprised me.”
“Sure you did,” nodded Kim sarcastically as she headed back towards the school.
“Oh, you're really asking for it, Princess.”
As they approached the door to the school they encountered Ron walking out with Barkin and two kids from school behind him. Ron smiled and motioned behind him. “They were tied up in the principal's office,” he said. “Rufus and I checked the rest of the school, nobody else was here.”
“Good,” said Kim, pulling out her Kimmunicator. “Wade? How's it look?”
Wade smiled on the screen. “I'm reading him loud and clear,” he said. “They seem to be taking him westward towards Nevada. I'll let you know when they land.”
“Great.” Kim shoved the Kimmunicator back into her pocket. “It seemed to have worked. We'll just follow Dr. Rick's signal all the way back to Gemini. No big.”
“It's about time,” said Shego. “I'm real tired of these subterfuge games. I'm more of a straightforward type of person.”
“You'll get your shot at a real fight,” Kim assured her. “Real soon.”
Vicki stared at her laptop for the eighth straight hour in a row. The words on it had blurred long ago and she felt that her head was going to explode if she looked any longer. What else was there to do, though? She could sleep, but that was about it. Anything else might run the risk of seeing people other than the four agents in the ‘team’ and while that wasn't against the rules, Vicki had trouble hiding the guilt in her eyes. She was spying into the personal records of all the GJ HQ personnel and it felt very wrong.
Not only that, it felt so useless. She knew these people, not very well, but at least well enough to figure they'd never have been involved in this mess. 213 profiles of people that she was supposed to trust and had been suddenly asked to view as enemies. She felt dirty and useless.
“Agent Grimes,” a man's voice said behind her. She turned look at Agent Francis Calden, a slightly older agent than Vicki herself, with a thick red beard and ginger hair. He wore a pair of thin frameless glasses and stared at her with a cold, emotionless look.
“Frank,” replied Vicki, rubbing her eyes from the strain. “What is it?”
“I have something that… well, it might benefit from your careful eye.” Francis made a reassuring smile and displayed the first emotion that Vicki had seen on the man. She forced herself to remember that he'd been doing this as long as she had and it could drain the life out of anyone.
She got up and walked with him over to his laptop. He had several screens connected to the portable device, each show a different section for a very long but bland looking log. He ran his hand over to a red line and pointed.
“This is a brief violation that occurred on Saturday,” Agent Calden explained. “It happened early in the morning and only for a moment. File security failed for approximately 10 seconds before being restored.”
“Wait, Saturday?” Vicki said. “You're already looking back that far?”
“I wasn't,” Francis shook his head. “Until I found a similar violation on Wednesday. The event is reoccurring, every 20 hours, starting on Friday then stops on Wednesday and doesn't occur at all on Thursday.”
“A program?” asked Vicki. “A virus?”
“That's what I think,” nodded the red haired agent. “I checked Sunday's backups, however, and didn't find anything out of the ordinary from previous weeks or months.”
“What about earlier than that?”
“Earlier than three months ago?” Francis looked surprised. “It could be impossible to tell that far back, there would be expected differences at that point. Upgrades, data migration, standard replacements… makes it impossible to compare data for anomalies.”
Vicki frowned. “Okay, how about this. Let's get everything that happened on Saturday and Wednesday and try to find a correlation. I've got personnel records, you have security logs. Get me the entry records and I'll get you the staff files for them.”
Francis nodded and started pulling out stacks of DVDs, paging through the dates for the two Vicki mentioned. Grimes returned to her own station, and started pulling up records of people she remembered being around on Wednesday.
Idly she clicked one of the people she recalled meeting. The file was huge, having been compiled over many decades. Many people who had interactions with GJ on a regular basis had files like this, but rarely so old. Aside from Dr. Director, nobody she'd come across today had been with the agency for longer than 20 years.
Vicki read the file carefully. She'd actually read this profile before, prior to the disaster this week, and didn't remember anything relevant from it. This time she brought her attention to the details, in the off chance that somehow this person had a connection to…
She stopped.
“Francis, can you bring up those logs from Wednesday again?” she called.
The agent replied and Vicki walked over. “No no,” she said once she started looking at the screen. “Not the violations, everything from the day. I want to see every system access request.”
“Okay,” Agent Calden replied, uncertainly. “What time frame?”
“Night, maybe starting around 8pm our time?”
The agent tapped on his laptop, filling the screen with the report in question. Vicki's trained eyes scanned for the relation, the connection between the file she just read and Wednesday.
Then she saw it.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered.
“What is it?”
Vicki slowly turned over the facts in her head, searching every angle and determined the proper approach. “Forget about last week's records,” she said finally. “We need to go older. MUCH older.”
“How old?” Francis saw a look of manic revelation in the eyes of his team member.
“Forty years.”
The elder agent, who was not yet twenty-five himself, stared. “Were there even computers forty years ago?”