Knight of the Shadows
Chapter 1
The black Pontiac Trans-Am drove quietly across the Nevada desert, the starlight reflecting off the highly polished surface. On the cars' nose the scanner light was dim and unlit, and inside the car, the triple columned voice panel was dark and silent. It was eerie and unsettling to drive the car without the familiar voice of the Knight2000 processor providing conversation and information, the driver kept looking down at the voice panel, half expecting it to light up in sync to that soothing voice.
Michael Knight, former head operative for the Foundation for Law and Government, wrapped his hands tightly around the wheel trying not to drift off into memories. Everything about the car was familiar, but it wasn't Kitt. //At least// he thought, //not yet...//
To his left the ghostly shape of a silver TVR coasted across the sand, while to his right was the chilling black-over-gray form of Kitt's 'older brother'. As many times as Michael told himself that Karr had been reprogrammed, he couldn't shake the cold feeling he got whenever he looked at the former killer car, but it's driver was someone he trusted and got along with. Rick might be a joker sometimes, but when he had a job to do, he would keep going until he got it done. In fact, none of them would be here if it wasn't for Richard Moss.
Finally Dannie, speed-freak driver of the TVR, broke into Michael's reverie.
"We're nearly there Michael," she called in her northern-England accent and cocky tone.
"Is he in there? " Michael asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.
"I am detecting emissions from Kitt's CPU," Karr's harsh voice replied, 'He is in there Mr. Knight,"
"Okay," Michael said, "how's their security?"
"Sophisticated," the TVR answered, "but its nothing we can't handle,"
" Oh we can handle it can we?" A new voice said sarcastically, this time coming from the red Ferrari behind them.
" Put a lid on it Fury," Jade silenced her car.
"Thanks Echo," Michael said to the TVR, ignoring the peevish Ferrari. He looked at the distant metal gates that were their target, "let's go." He said and the four vehicles sped toward the dark warehouse where Michael's partner was imprisoned.
The plan went off without a hitch, Karr and Fury drove off to create as much of a disturbance as they could, and they succeeded quite well. Karr was armed to the teeth with weaponry, and Fury was almost as well armed. The resulting noise and explosions drew off almost every guard in the complex. Echo, the gentle TVR, quietly disabled part of the security system and Dannie and Michael slipped inside. Once they had Kitt's CPU they would get out of there as fast as possible and when they were back in safe surroundings Kitt could be installed in Michael's TransAm. Dannie pulled Echo to a halt inside a large open compound surrounded by buildings.
"Echo, can you tell which building he's in?" She asked her partner.
"Negative Dannielle," the AI replied, "I don't know what I'm looking for, Karr would know but he's busy right now".
"Yeah," Dannie agreed with a grin when she heard a loud crash coming from Fury and Karr's general direction.
Michael got out of the TransAm and pointed at an adjacent building.
"There," Was all he said as he set off in the direction he had pointed.
Dannie gave him a confused look but decided to follow him anyway. Michael strode confidently through the darkened corridors Dannie following behind feeling very confused, it was as if Michael was following some sort of weird sixth sense that was leading him straight to his partner, what Dannie didn't know was that it had happened before, many years ago...
**Flash Back**
(Michael and Devon stepped into the garage, hoping to find some clue as to where Adrienne had taken Kitt, but as soon as Michael walked in the door he felt... something. Almost as if... "Kitt...?" He whispered to himself. Then he became aware that Devon was stood by his shoulder, looking concerned, "Devon," Michael said, "Kitt's here, I can... I can feel his presence," Devon just looked at him as though afraid that FLAG's head operative was loosing it. Michael ignored the look and moved over to one of the dusty tables. Moving some rubbish out of the way, he revealed a dented casing filled with blinking lights, it was Kitt's CPU...)
**End Flashback**
Shaking himself out of memories once again, Michael crept along the corridor to where he was certain Kitt was being held captive. He peered around the corner, and saw the entrance to a shielded lab, still guarded by two burly looking men.
"He's in there." Michael whispered to Dannie.
Dannie gave him another odd look, "Are you sure?" She asked.
"Just trust me, okay?" Michael said tiredly.
"Whatever," Dannie shrugged, "Can you take those guards out?" She asked.
Michael peered at them again, "Yeah," He said eventually, "As long as we can distract them somehow."
"Easy peasy," Dannie grinned, and before Michael could say a word to stop her, she let out a shrill ululating cry that echoed and re-echoed off the metallic walls so that it's source was almost impossible to locate. The guards looked around in confusion, guards were not the brightest of people at the best of times, so one stayed by the door while to other went down the corridor to where Michael's fist was waiting. When Michael was done putting the first guard to sleep, he looked up to see that the second guard was sprawled on the floor unconscious, with Dannie stood over him.
"How did you...?" Michael began, but Dannie gave him a glare that dared him to continue to ask, and her deep brown eyes promised he would not like the answer, "Never mind. Can Echo get the door open for us?"
"I suppose." She said, and spoke into her new Foundation-supplied comlink, and after a few tense seconds, the door slid open.
Kitt sat in the darkness pondering his fate, most likely he would be taken apart, or perhaps his CPU would just be blown. On the other hand they could have done that already and they hadn't, instead they had simply run a few standard tests. They hadn't tried to break into his systems, nor override his program.
Kitt sighed heavily, silently. He really did miss his partner, the times when they had saved lives, stopped the bad guys, helped people...Even though Kitt had E-Mailed Michael regularly when he had been aboard SkyOne, there was so much he hadn't said and now, most likely, would not get a chance to.
Kitt heard a sound through the darkness - Footsteps! two pairs of them. This is it, Kitt thought sadly, The big adios. Then;
''Kitt, you there buddy?''
Kitt could hardly believe his aural sensors. It was Michael! Kitt struggled to find some way to answer him and finally settled on the nearby active monitor that had been used during the tests.
_Michael, is that really you?
Michael almost laughed out loud. Kitt was here!
''Yeah Kitt, it's me. C'mon pal, lets get you outta here.''
_Thank you, Michael.
''I beg your pardon?'' Dante asked incredulously of his driver.
'' You heard me, Dante. Kitt is 'The Shadow', '' Kyle said.
''Do you mean to tell me that the most famous AI ever created was sitting right under our bumpers?'' Dante was absolutely astounded. Not only had Kitt's CPU been stolen, but it had been stolen from SkyOne, their own home! Now Kyle was telling him he had just had a chat with the famous car's equally famous driver, by Michael Knight's supposed grave! It was almost too much for his processors. Of course, it did make sense. If 'The Shadow' was a hologram projected by Kitt's CPU, Dante would not have been able to detect it, thus explaining Kyle's mysterious conversation with mid-air some weeks ago. But it was still a lot to take in.
'' What do we do now?'' Dante finally managed to ask.
''We find out what Mobius has planned and then we try to stop him,'' Kyle replied.
Now Dante was confused. ''What about Kitt?'' The SUV asked ''Shouldn't we be trying to recover the CPU?''
Kyle sighed. ''Michael said he would take care of that,''
Really confused now Dante said; ''How does he plan to do that?''
Dante's driver sighed again and leaned back in his seat ''I don't know Dante,'' he said ''I just don't know.'' In the back of Kyle's mind there was a question, Mobius had come close to beating them several times, would he succeed this time? Would Team Knight Rider survive?
Kyle found he had no more time for reflection when Jenny's voice came over SkyOne's com system.
"Kyle, we just got a call from the Foundation, they want us to go check out a huge truck that's been sighted in the Nevada Desert. The Military say it's indistructable, they threw everything they had at it."
"We'll just have to prove them wrong," He replied, "Come on Dante, time to go to work."
But despite his bravado, Kyle felt an apprehensive chill in his soul.
Chapter 2
Michael surveyed the new base with a look of pride. FLAG had given it's approval for the new team of operatives, as well as a brand new base to play with. Michael felt embarrassingly like a kid at Christmas. The large house that made up the main part of the base was an old warehouse that had been converted into six very plush new apartments. The adjoining building was made up of five small garages for the cars, and the sixth space was reserved for Bonnie Barstow's lab. A grin spread across Michael's face when he recalled the look on Bonnie's face when she had seen it. Every electronic gizmo and thingimajig that he had been able to get hold of was there, and Bonnie obviously appreciated it. He looked up to where the new sign was being fitted to the entrance. The dramatic symbol and flashy writing said it all.
The Knight Shadows were here to stay.
Dr Bonnie Barstow walked through the corridors of the building with a large smile on her face. Work on the Knight Industries Three Thousand was almost finished; Kitt was almost ready for action again. The cars had all received large upgrades and a range of new functions and Echo and Fury had been given scanners and voice modulators. Echo's were turquoise-blue and Fury's were orange. In addition each car had been given its own unique ability. Kitt had Super Pursuit mode, slightly modified so that the re-configuration of the car required less power, and therefore was less of a drain on Kitt's systems. Karr had Battle Mode - something that exchanged speed for weapon power, and with that many weapons at his disposal, that could be quite formidable. Echo had Stealth Mode, which made her invisible to scans, and also had been fitted with hypersonic weapons at Dannie's request as she claimed 'it fits in with her name'. While Fury had Glider Mode, that actually let her fly for short distances, Initially, Bonnie had been unsure about installing the completely untested flight capable hardware into the Ferrari, fearing Fury wouldn't be able to handle the different processing required for flight, but Jade had put her fears to rest when she had explained that Fury had once been installed on a jet fighter.
Bonnie arrived in the central lab, and her eyes fell on Kitt's fantastic new body that sat gleaming in the lights.
''Hello Kitt!'' She greeted the AI.
''Hello Bonnie,'' Kitt returned her greeting, ''You seem very cheerful today,'' He noted.
''Yes, I am because we are going to start applying your molecular bonded shell today,'' at full strength, she added to herself. Bonnie had argued long and loud over the Foundation board's decision not to give the Team Knight Rider cars a full strength molecular bonded shell. But after the incident with KRO it had been deemed too risky. Bonnie had protested that they were denying their operatives vital protection, but she had been overruled. As she sat there applying the MBS to Kitt's bodywork, little did she know that her objections would soon prove correct.
The reunion between Michael and Kitt was very emotional. Bonnie watched as Michael struggled against tears and eventually lost. Bonnie had then ushered the rest of the team out and left herself to give the two partners a bit of privacy.
''It's good to see you again, Michael,'' Kitt said softly to his old friend, '' I missed you,''
'' I know Kitt, I know. It's good to see you, too, pal,'' Michael said, his voice sounding choked with emotion. He wrapped his arms around the steering wheel, needing to feel his partner just this once. ''Feel like a drive?'' Michael asked once he had a hold of himself.
''That would be wonderful.'' Kitt answered. The engine started with a pleasant turbine hum and the black TransAm rolled off toward the open road.
Richard Moss watched with some amusement as Dr Bonnie Barstow cautiously approached his car.
She probably thinks Karr holds a grudge, he thought.
''Dr. Barstow!'' Richard called as he stepped out of the shadows. Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin.
''Richard! You startled me, I just wanted to let you know that we're going to start applying Karr's molecular bonded shell, '' Richard put on a charming smile and nodded.
While they worked on Karr they talked about various things. His work with the MI5, telling Bonnie some of the more interesting, and unclassified stories, he even told her of how the bizarre circumstances in which he had met Michael, and by extension, formed the Knight Shadows. Bonnie told him of her previous time with the Foundation, telling Richard some stories about Michael and Kitt. Karr had added a sarcastic and unflattering commentary to Richard's tales but neither Richard nor Karr mentioned anything about Karr's previous encounters with Michael and Kitt, but Rick could tell that Bonnie still did not trust Karr. She still saw him as the KARR she had known back then, even though she had gone over Karr's program herself, and found the work done on re-writing his dominant program to be sound.
When they had finished Richard handed her a cup of coffee and said ''can I talk to you for a minute?''
''Sure,'' Bonnie replied and they both went into the house and sat down.
''You don't have to worry about him, you know,'' Richard said referring to Karr ''you went over Jade's work yourself, you know that there is no trace of that old program''
''The memory files are still there.'' Bonnie retorted before she could stop herself.
''That was intentional. We didn't want to erase who he was back then, that would just destroy his personality. We blocked off a lot of what he did, but he could access those files if he wanted."
"How much does he remember?" Bonnie asked hesitantly.
"Jut that he hurt people and that he tried to attack Michael and Kitt,'' Richard replied, ''He told me that he doesn't want to hurt anybody else, but he realizes that people are still afraid of him.''
Bonnie looked down at the brown liquid in her cup. ''I'm sorry,'' she whispered. Richard nodded and relaxed back into his chair.
"So, where do you know Dannie and Jade from?" Bonnie asked in a more casual tone. Rick smiled warmly, and began to spin a complicated and probably only half-true tale of electronic espionage, high-level hacking and the MI5, with Dannie, Rick and Jade right in the middle of the action.
Bonnie was laughing at some more of Rick's tall tales when they heard a high-pitched alarm coming from the lab.
''What's that? '' Richard asked her.
''The distress signal, Team Knight Rider must be under attack!'' They rushed toward the lab.
As soon as they got there Bonnie contacted Kitt. ''Kitt...'' she began but Kitt's voice cut her off.
''Yes, Bonnie, we heard it too. We're on our way.''
Bonnie bit her lip; the only other complete car was Fury. ''I'm sending Fury and Jade to back you up,'' She said.
Michael pulled Kitt to a halt among the tangled remains of what had once been Team Knight Rider.
''Anything Kitt?'' Michael heard himself ask.
''Yes,'' His partner replied, ''I can detect faint emissions from Dante's CPU and... Michael, there's a life sign!''
Michael got out of the car and was about to ask 'where' when he heard a low moan. Rushing to the man's side he discovered a heavily dazed and injured Kyle Stewart. While Michael treated the worst of his wounds he heard Fury pull up behind him.
''See what you can do for Dante,'' He told Jade. The blonde girl nodded and set to work.
Michael turned back to his partner, ''What happened?'' Michael asked.
''From what I can detect they seem to have been attacked by high-powered missiles, and since they didn't have a full strength MBS...'' Kitt trailed off.
''They didn't have a chance,'' Michael completed the thought. At that moment Kyle began to come around.
''It's alright Kyle, you're safe,'' Michael told him.
''Dante...'' Kyle gasped.
''He's alright,'' Jade broke in, ''Database is intact and CPU integrity is fairly stable,'' Kyle nodded and slumped back down onto the sand. ''But we do need to get him out of here,'' Jade continued ''we need to contact him somehow.''
''I'll do that,'' Kitt volunteered.
Kitt carefully reached out through the damaged connectors and comlines of the other car to contact the other AI.
''Who the..? Kitt! It's an honour...'' Dante's voice began, but Kitt cut him off.
''We can get to that later, Dante, right now we need to get you and Kyle out of here,'' Kitt told him
''I understand,'' Dante replied.
''Jade is going to remove you from the car,'' Kitt continued to explain.
''Alright,'' Dante said, but there was a slight tremor in his voice.
Kitt caught on to his nervousness, ''what's wrong?'' Kitt asked the other computer.
''I...I've never been out of the car body before,'' Dante said, but Kitt knew that to be a lie. Dante was probably just scared for his partner, and unwilling to admit it because of his stubborn insistence that he was only a machine
''Don't worry,'' Kitt reassured him, ''Fury and I will be here and Kyle will be carrying you, you wont be alone.''
The simple knowledge that Kyle was alive and conscious seemed to relieve most of Dante's nerves, but Kitt wasn't looking forward to what would happen when Dante found out what had happened to the rest of TKR.
Kitt sighed and told Jade to proceed, and the young hacker began to remove Dante's CPU from the car body.
Michael sat on the veranda outside Shadow base and watched the fabulous sunset. He held a bottle of beer in one hand, while hi other hand rested lightly on Kitt's front end. He was truly happy.
It was a pity that the person he saw jogging across the lawn toward the garages couldn't saw the same. Michael sighed; Kyle had developed a darkness that nothing he could say or do could dissipate. Anger and guilt, as well as a keen sense of failure were pulling at the younger man, creating a hollowness in his eyes, and a withdrawn and cold demeanor. Those feelings were ones that were intimately familiar to Michael; he remembered feeling them after Wilton Knight had 'rescued' him. Kyle could only work through those feelings himself. At least he had Dante to help him through it, as Michael had had Kitt.
"Is something wrong Michael?" Kitt asked, sensing Michael's pensive mood. Michael simply patted the warm metal hood.
"No pal, everything's fine."
It had been two weeks since the destruction of TKR, and Kyle's physical injuries were almost healed, but the wound of guilt refused to close. He had been the leader of TKR and he had failed them miserably. The guilt was awful. Kyle had almost left the Foundation until Dante had given a heart-rending plea to his driver not to abandon him. So for Dante's sake he had stayed.
Dante; He was almost repaired too. Kyle hadn't been expecting what they had done to his partner. He had been expecting that they would put Dante inside a Sports Utility Vehicle, something similar to his old body; instead he had been placed in a Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. The sort of car that Kyle had dreamed of owning when he had been a teenager. Kyle smiled and continued to walk down the corridor that led to the garages.
Kyle passed the Nissan Skyline that housed Karr and Kyle once again reflected on how eerily appropriate the boy-racer body was to Karr's personality. Kyle arrived in Dante's garage space just in time to see Richard lower the hood. Richard saw him and grinned.
''By the time I'm finished,'' Richard announced, ''Dante will go so fast, your eyes will pop!''
''I look forward to it,'' Kyle said dryly. Then he noticed something on Dante's nose, a flickering white light. ''What the hell is that?'' he asked pointing.
''That's my scanner, Kyle. Do you like it? "Dante said.
''Yeah, it's..very nice.'' Kyle said, perplexed.
''Why don't you get in and have a look inside?" Dante invited as the driver's door clicked open. Kyle accepted the invitation, and climbed into the luxurious gray leather seat. He looked around the dashboard, hardly believing the difference. The dash on Dante's old body had been somewhat minimalist, with most functions controlled by Dante himself. Here, however, most of the specialist functions had a manual override, thus presenting a myriad of backlit buttons that conspired to make the interior of the Corvette look suspiciously like the bridge of the starship Enterprise. There was also a strange panel just behind the steering wheel that didn't appear to have any function. Kyle almost jumped out of his skin when it lit up with the same bright white light as the scanner outside.
"What do you think?" Dante asked.
"There's so many buttons...I don't know what half of these things do."
"Many of them are for functions that usually other members of Team Knight Rider would have taken care of," Dante explained, with just the slightest hint of sadness in his voice, "The Shadows work as separate driver/car teams, so all vehicles need to cover a broad range of functions." The sad quality was gone now, the business-like tone had retuned to the British accented voice, but Kyle knew he had heard it, and now knew that Dante missed his teammates too.
"So, in other words, all I'm responsible for is you and me?"
"That is terrible grammar, Kyle, but essentially, yes, you are correct." Dante said.
That sat well with Kyle. He privately admitted that it would be a relief to not have the responsibility of an entire team on his shoulders.
Miles away, on a lonely desert highway, Michael Knight sat staring at the small monitor set in the dashboard. He leaned back in his seat and massaged his forehead.
A huge truck, with missiles and the molecular bonded shell, there could be very little doubt as to what it was.
''It's Goliath, isn't it,'' Michael said.
Kitt hesitated before replying, ''Yes, Michael, '' Kitt answered.
Michael groaned. ''But how? Garth's dead,'' Michael said, more thinking out loud than asking.
Kitt was silent for a long while before he could say what he knew he would have to say. "Michael, I have to tell you something.''
Michael heard the tremor in his partners voice and put his hand on the top of the dash to try to reassure him, ''What is it Kitt?'' He asked.
''It's about Mobius, I think he's...'' Kitt faltered ''I think he's...Garth Knight.''
Chapter 3
It was early morning, and Dante, Fury and Karr sat in their garage spaces. Kitt and Echo were off chasing leads. Trying to find the current location of the man who had once been called Garth Knight but now was simply known as 'Mobius'. The man was responsible for building the huge truck, Goliath, which had destroyed Dante's teammates. Just then Dante heard voices and groaned.
Karr and Fury were quarrelling again.
" So I got lost," Fury said, "the maps given to me were outdated!"
Karr snorted in derision, "you could get lost inside an Internet chat room," he said.
Dante winced. To a computer, that was a great insult.
"Says the computer that couldn't hack his way into a kindergarten database!" Fury retorted. Karr growled threateningly at the Ferrari. Dante sighed, knowing that there was nothing he could do to break it up; if he tried he would just be ignored. Fury would only listen to Kitt or Michael and Karr only paid attention to his driver. Before Karr and Fury's discussion could degenerate into name-calling Kitt and Michael arrived back, with Dannie and Echo not far behind.
*And not a moment too soon*, Dante thought.
"You'd better call your drivers, guys." Echo said, "We have had a sighting of Goliath."
The Nissan Skyline rolled cautiously through the abandoned industrial estate, scanners alert for any signs of trouble. Kitt and Michael Knight were on the other side of the estate also checking for any sign of Goliath or Mobius. Karr growled, he wasn't detecting anything at all and his short supply of patience was rapidly running out. He was about to declare the whole thing a waste of time when he finally found something.
"Rick," Karr said to his driver, "I am detecting a very large vehicle emerging from a building. The building itself appears to be shielded from my scanners." Karr informed Richard.
"Hmm, party time." Richard said with a grin. Karr almost sighed. Why wouldn't Richard take anything seriously?
"Hey Michael," Richard called Kitt's partner, "Looks like we've got some action."
"Be right with you." Michael replied. Richard and Karr drove over to the large warehouse and saw a huge gray truck head off toward the desert.
"Does that thing have the MBS?" Rick asked his car, sounding a bit shaken.
"Yes," Karr replied, "It is also armed with several high powered missiles."
"My scans indicate that they are the same frequency as those that destroyed TKR," Kitt's voice came over the comlink.
Richard regarded the building in front of them. "Did you say you couldn't scan this place?" He asked Karr.
"Correct." The Skyline replied.
Rick sighed, "Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He said and got out of the car. Just as Richard reached the open hangar doors, one of Garth Knight's nasty surprises activated. The small missile launcher took aim at the human intruder and fired.
Kitt detected the incoming missile and cried out a warning, "Richard! Look out!"
"Nooooo!!" Karr howled and shot in between the missile and his partner. There was an almighty exploding crash. Karr's MBS held, but it left a terrific dent in his side. "Karr!" Rick called, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," He replied, but his voice was strained, "Are you alright?" Karr asked.
Richard smiled weakly, "I'll live," he said patting the Skyline's hood, "thanks to you, anyway."
Karr had been prepared to sacrifice himself for his driver.
Somehow, that shocked Michael, he found himself wondering exactly how much Karr had changed.
Kitt sat thinking about this afternoon's events. Had Karr changed? Was there now a caring personality beneath the harsh exterior? Suddenly Kitt received a signal across the comlink, and to his surprise, realized it was Karr.
"Kitt?"
"Yes?"
"May we talk?"
Curious, Kitt agreed, "If you wish. What about?"
"I wish to apologize for my actions when we met before." He said.
"You remember it?" Kitt was surprised. He had thought that Karr's memories would have been erased.
"Not everything, no," Karr replied, "Rick said that keeping the memories would hurt me. I trust him, and I trust you, Kitt."
Kitt was taken aback. He hadn't expected this from someone who, only a few years ago, he would have automatically declared the enemy. For one of the few times in his life, Kitt found himself lost for words.
"I apologize for my previous actions." Karr then said.
"It wasn't your fault, Karr," Kitt tried to reassure, "it was your programming."
Karr gave an electronic sigh, "Perhaps," The older AI said, "goodnight Kitt."
So...Karr *had* changed.
"Goodnight, Brother." Kitt replied.
Karr's yellow scanner flickered from side to side in what could almost have been a smile.
It had been almost a week since the Knight Shadows had had a lead on Mobius or Goliath, and the strain was beginning to show on Dante's partner. He had not been sleeping well, his dreams haunted by images of the destruction of TKR; Kyle was wound as tight as a guitar string. If they did not find a lead soon, he was going to go insane. The only person he really felt capable of talking to was Dante, he was so terrified of forming a relationship of any kind with any member of this team, or indeed anyone. But Dante was safe, he denied any emotion so vehemently that it was very hard to form any sort of attachment to him, even though they were bonded in some way he couldn't even begin to describe, for some reason almost beyond his comprehension, he *needed* that stuck-up, haughty, pedantic AI.
Kyle wandered past the offices and garages, trying to walk off some of his anger and guilt, as he passed Fury's space he saw Jade who had fallen asleep at her computer, for the third time in as many days, she had been working very hard, contacting almost everyone she knew who had contacts in the gray areas between law and crime, and that was a surprisingly large amount, she had also become increasingly worried about him, frequently sitting him down and making him eat, even when appetite evaded her. The command prompt was flashing insistently, but Jade was oblivious, her head pillowed on the wrist-rest. Kyle took her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.
"Jade," he said, "Jade, wake up."
"Huh?" She murmured blearily. Then she saw something on the computer screen and instantly came to life and started tapping madly on the keyboard.
"What is it?" Kyle asked her, trying to keep the excitement from his voice.
"I've managed to locate two possible sites for Mobius' current base," Jade began but was interrupted when Fury ahem'ed.
Jade rolled her eyes, "Sorry Fury," she sighed. "*We* have managed to locate two possible sites for Mobius' current base," Jade tried again. Two maps appeared on the monitor, the locations outlined in red. Kyle grinned viciously, 'Finally' He thought.
Michael peered at the maps, trying to decide who to send where. He had never wanted to be in two places at the same time so badly. The others in the room stared at him expectantly, except Kyle, who had a knowing look on his face. Michael sighed deeply and made his decision.
"Okay, Kyle and Jade are with me at the biggest site. Dannie, Rick, you guys check the smaller one." There, he had done it. Speed combined with strength, He hoped it would work out. As the others left Kyle walked over and grinned at him.
"Not as easy as it looks, right?" He smiled
Michael just glared at him.
Kyle sat in Dante's drivers seat looking at a picture that had been brought up on the small monitor set in Dante's dash. It was a picture of who Mobius had once been, Garth Knight. Kyle had been startled to realize how alike Garth and Michael looked, their features were almost identical. But there were some differences, Garth's hair was a shade darker, he wore a beard and mustache and his eyes blazed with madness. Kyle shuddered. Michael and Garth were alike, but also very, very unlike. How many lives had Garth destroyed? And what was to come if the Knight Shadows could not stop him?
No He thought It won't happen, not while I'm still breathing Determination filled him Garth would not win this time.
The three sports cars and their drivers arrived at their destination. They split up to search different areas of the compound. Kyle and Dante got the central building, which appeared to be some kind of office. Kyle got out. "Kyle," Dante spoke up suddenly, "be careful."
Kyle smiled, touched by his cars' concern, "I will, Dante."
"Is there anything in there that I should know about?" He asked. Dante ran a quick scan, although he was still getting used to the capabilities of his new body "All I can find are some human life signs and some flammable chemicals in the far end, one of the life signs is in a wheelchair." Dante replied.
"Hmm" Kyle said, "See if you can knock out the power supply, that should give me time to find Mobius."
Dante didn't like the tone of his partner's voice, but kept quiet about it. "Very well," he sighed. Kyle entered the building, his eyes and ears alert for anything. From ahead of him he heard the sound of heavy, labored breathing. A man in an electric wheelchair rolled to a stop in front of him.
"Mobius." Kyle said, his voice devoid of inflection.
"Welcome, Mr. Stewart," Mobius cackled, "welcome, to your death,"
Kyle didn't move. He could see the same blazing insanity in Mobius' eyes, as had been in the picture of his younger self. "What do you want, Garth?" He asked flatly.
Mobius laughed again, "I haven't heard that name in a very long time. As for what I want, that is simple. I want every last remnant of my Father's dream destroyed, and that includes you, Stewart. That is why I have watched and waited all these years, my greatest triumph will be to destroy Michael Knight, the man who took my name and my face and in return, gave me this broken body."
Kyle remained motionless, "Is that why you took Kitt's CPU?"
Mobius cackled again, "But of course! What better way to lure my brother to me than to take his beloved partner?"
Suddenly, from behind him Kyle heard the sound of an explosion. Dante must have succeeded in taking out the power supply. Kyle tried to make a run for it, but was restrained from the behind.
"You are not going anywhere, Mr. Stewart. When this building blows up, so will you. Then I will go after your friends, one at a time, until they are all dead. I was not prepared for your little attack on my warehouse, but rest assured I will not make that mistake again. This team is doomed Stewart, just like the last one was." Mobius said. He then touched a control on his chair.
Nothing happened.
Kyle would have to thank Dante for that later.
He swung a punch at his captor, hitting him on the side of the head and knocking him to the floor. The mans' gun slid right to Kyle's feet.
He picked up the gun.
The flames crashed through the wall, and began creeping towards the far end.
Kyle Stewart held the gun pointed at the now helpless man in the wheelchair, rage filling his mind And in that moment, Kyle couldn't see the man a few feet away from him, he couldn't hear Dante's pleas over the comlink for him to get out of there, and he couldn't feel the heat from the fires all around him. All he could see was the explosion that had consumed Domino and Jenny, all he could hear was her screams as she had died, and all he could feel was fiery hatred toward the man who had caused it to happen.
Kyle pulled the trigger.
At the same time the flames reached the highly flammable chemicals in the far end of the building the wall behind Garth Knight exploded, enveloping him in a huge fireball.
Dante finally managed to reach his driver.
"Kyle! My God man! Get in!" The Corvette gasped. Kyle almost fell through the open door, his mind in a daze. Dante crashed through one of the remaining walls and raced over to where Fury and Kitt were waiting. Michael and Jade both got out of their cars and ran over to Kyle, who also got out.
"Are you okay?" Jade asked, concerned.
"I...Don't know." Kyle replied staring at the gun in his hand.
Michael looked equally concerned, but all he said was; "Lets go home, huh?" And walked back to Kitt. Jade gave him a strange half-smile and also returned to her partner. Kyle looked from the gun to the building.
He would never know what had killed Mobius, his bullet, or the flames.
But for now, he decided that it didn't matter.
For now, he was happy to just be with his partner, doing what he had always wanted to do:
Make a difference.
THE END
Chapter 1
The black Pontiac Trans-Am drove quietly across the Nevada desert, the starlight reflecting off the highly polished surface. On the cars' nose the scanner light was dim and unlit, and inside the car, the triple columned voice panel was dark and silent. It was eerie and unsettling to drive the car without the familiar voice of the Knight2000 processor providing conversation and information, the driver kept looking down at the voice panel, half expecting it to light up in sync to that soothing voice.
Michael Knight, former head operative for the Foundation for Law and Government, wrapped his hands tightly around the wheel trying not to drift off into memories. Everything about the car was familiar, but it wasn't Kitt. //At least// he thought, //not yet...//
To his left the ghostly shape of a silver TVR coasted across the sand, while to his right was the chilling black-over-gray form of Kitt's 'older brother'. As many times as Michael told himself that Karr had been reprogrammed, he couldn't shake the cold feeling he got whenever he looked at the former killer car, but it's driver was someone he trusted and got along with. Rick might be a joker sometimes, but when he had a job to do, he would keep going until he got it done. In fact, none of them would be here if it wasn't for Richard Moss.
Finally Dannie, speed-freak driver of the TVR, broke into Michael's reverie.
"We're nearly there Michael," she called in her northern-England accent and cocky tone.
"Is he in there? " Michael asked, not really expecting anyone to answer.
"I am detecting emissions from Kitt's CPU," Karr's harsh voice replied, 'He is in there Mr. Knight,"
"Okay," Michael said, "how's their security?"
"Sophisticated," the TVR answered, "but its nothing we can't handle,"
" Oh we can handle it can we?" A new voice said sarcastically, this time coming from the red Ferrari behind them.
" Put a lid on it Fury," Jade silenced her car.
"Thanks Echo," Michael said to the TVR, ignoring the peevish Ferrari. He looked at the distant metal gates that were their target, "let's go." He said and the four vehicles sped toward the dark warehouse where Michael's partner was imprisoned.
The plan went off without a hitch, Karr and Fury drove off to create as much of a disturbance as they could, and they succeeded quite well. Karr was armed to the teeth with weaponry, and Fury was almost as well armed. The resulting noise and explosions drew off almost every guard in the complex. Echo, the gentle TVR, quietly disabled part of the security system and Dannie and Michael slipped inside. Once they had Kitt's CPU they would get out of there as fast as possible and when they were back in safe surroundings Kitt could be installed in Michael's TransAm. Dannie pulled Echo to a halt inside a large open compound surrounded by buildings.
"Echo, can you tell which building he's in?" She asked her partner.
"Negative Dannielle," the AI replied, "I don't know what I'm looking for, Karr would know but he's busy right now".
"Yeah," Dannie agreed with a grin when she heard a loud crash coming from Fury and Karr's general direction.
Michael got out of the TransAm and pointed at an adjacent building.
"There," Was all he said as he set off in the direction he had pointed.
Dannie gave him a confused look but decided to follow him anyway. Michael strode confidently through the darkened corridors Dannie following behind feeling very confused, it was as if Michael was following some sort of weird sixth sense that was leading him straight to his partner, what Dannie didn't know was that it had happened before, many years ago...
**Flash Back**
(Michael and Devon stepped into the garage, hoping to find some clue as to where Adrienne had taken Kitt, but as soon as Michael walked in the door he felt... something. Almost as if... "Kitt...?" He whispered to himself. Then he became aware that Devon was stood by his shoulder, looking concerned, "Devon," Michael said, "Kitt's here, I can... I can feel his presence," Devon just looked at him as though afraid that FLAG's head operative was loosing it. Michael ignored the look and moved over to one of the dusty tables. Moving some rubbish out of the way, he revealed a dented casing filled with blinking lights, it was Kitt's CPU...)
**End Flashback**
Shaking himself out of memories once again, Michael crept along the corridor to where he was certain Kitt was being held captive. He peered around the corner, and saw the entrance to a shielded lab, still guarded by two burly looking men.
"He's in there." Michael whispered to Dannie.
Dannie gave him another odd look, "Are you sure?" She asked.
"Just trust me, okay?" Michael said tiredly.
"Whatever," Dannie shrugged, "Can you take those guards out?" She asked.
Michael peered at them again, "Yeah," He said eventually, "As long as we can distract them somehow."
"Easy peasy," Dannie grinned, and before Michael could say a word to stop her, she let out a shrill ululating cry that echoed and re-echoed off the metallic walls so that it's source was almost impossible to locate. The guards looked around in confusion, guards were not the brightest of people at the best of times, so one stayed by the door while to other went down the corridor to where Michael's fist was waiting. When Michael was done putting the first guard to sleep, he looked up to see that the second guard was sprawled on the floor unconscious, with Dannie stood over him.
"How did you...?" Michael began, but Dannie gave him a glare that dared him to continue to ask, and her deep brown eyes promised he would not like the answer, "Never mind. Can Echo get the door open for us?"
"I suppose." She said, and spoke into her new Foundation-supplied comlink, and after a few tense seconds, the door slid open.
Kitt sat in the darkness pondering his fate, most likely he would be taken apart, or perhaps his CPU would just be blown. On the other hand they could have done that already and they hadn't, instead they had simply run a few standard tests. They hadn't tried to break into his systems, nor override his program.
Kitt sighed heavily, silently. He really did miss his partner, the times when they had saved lives, stopped the bad guys, helped people...Even though Kitt had E-Mailed Michael regularly when he had been aboard SkyOne, there was so much he hadn't said and now, most likely, would not get a chance to.
Kitt heard a sound through the darkness - Footsteps! two pairs of them. This is it, Kitt thought sadly, The big adios. Then;
''Kitt, you there buddy?''
Kitt could hardly believe his aural sensors. It was Michael! Kitt struggled to find some way to answer him and finally settled on the nearby active monitor that had been used during the tests.
_Michael, is that really you?
Michael almost laughed out loud. Kitt was here!
''Yeah Kitt, it's me. C'mon pal, lets get you outta here.''
_Thank you, Michael.
''I beg your pardon?'' Dante asked incredulously of his driver.
'' You heard me, Dante. Kitt is 'The Shadow', '' Kyle said.
''Do you mean to tell me that the most famous AI ever created was sitting right under our bumpers?'' Dante was absolutely astounded. Not only had Kitt's CPU been stolen, but it had been stolen from SkyOne, their own home! Now Kyle was telling him he had just had a chat with the famous car's equally famous driver, by Michael Knight's supposed grave! It was almost too much for his processors. Of course, it did make sense. If 'The Shadow' was a hologram projected by Kitt's CPU, Dante would not have been able to detect it, thus explaining Kyle's mysterious conversation with mid-air some weeks ago. But it was still a lot to take in.
'' What do we do now?'' Dante finally managed to ask.
''We find out what Mobius has planned and then we try to stop him,'' Kyle replied.
Now Dante was confused. ''What about Kitt?'' The SUV asked ''Shouldn't we be trying to recover the CPU?''
Kyle sighed. ''Michael said he would take care of that,''
Really confused now Dante said; ''How does he plan to do that?''
Dante's driver sighed again and leaned back in his seat ''I don't know Dante,'' he said ''I just don't know.'' In the back of Kyle's mind there was a question, Mobius had come close to beating them several times, would he succeed this time? Would Team Knight Rider survive?
Kyle found he had no more time for reflection when Jenny's voice came over SkyOne's com system.
"Kyle, we just got a call from the Foundation, they want us to go check out a huge truck that's been sighted in the Nevada Desert. The Military say it's indistructable, they threw everything they had at it."
"We'll just have to prove them wrong," He replied, "Come on Dante, time to go to work."
But despite his bravado, Kyle felt an apprehensive chill in his soul.
Chapter 2
Michael surveyed the new base with a look of pride. FLAG had given it's approval for the new team of operatives, as well as a brand new base to play with. Michael felt embarrassingly like a kid at Christmas. The large house that made up the main part of the base was an old warehouse that had been converted into six very plush new apartments. The adjoining building was made up of five small garages for the cars, and the sixth space was reserved for Bonnie Barstow's lab. A grin spread across Michael's face when he recalled the look on Bonnie's face when she had seen it. Every electronic gizmo and thingimajig that he had been able to get hold of was there, and Bonnie obviously appreciated it. He looked up to where the new sign was being fitted to the entrance. The dramatic symbol and flashy writing said it all.
The Knight Shadows were here to stay.
Dr Bonnie Barstow walked through the corridors of the building with a large smile on her face. Work on the Knight Industries Three Thousand was almost finished; Kitt was almost ready for action again. The cars had all received large upgrades and a range of new functions and Echo and Fury had been given scanners and voice modulators. Echo's were turquoise-blue and Fury's were orange. In addition each car had been given its own unique ability. Kitt had Super Pursuit mode, slightly modified so that the re-configuration of the car required less power, and therefore was less of a drain on Kitt's systems. Karr had Battle Mode - something that exchanged speed for weapon power, and with that many weapons at his disposal, that could be quite formidable. Echo had Stealth Mode, which made her invisible to scans, and also had been fitted with hypersonic weapons at Dannie's request as she claimed 'it fits in with her name'. While Fury had Glider Mode, that actually let her fly for short distances, Initially, Bonnie had been unsure about installing the completely untested flight capable hardware into the Ferrari, fearing Fury wouldn't be able to handle the different processing required for flight, but Jade had put her fears to rest when she had explained that Fury had once been installed on a jet fighter.
Bonnie arrived in the central lab, and her eyes fell on Kitt's fantastic new body that sat gleaming in the lights.
''Hello Kitt!'' She greeted the AI.
''Hello Bonnie,'' Kitt returned her greeting, ''You seem very cheerful today,'' He noted.
''Yes, I am because we are going to start applying your molecular bonded shell today,'' at full strength, she added to herself. Bonnie had argued long and loud over the Foundation board's decision not to give the Team Knight Rider cars a full strength molecular bonded shell. But after the incident with KRO it had been deemed too risky. Bonnie had protested that they were denying their operatives vital protection, but she had been overruled. As she sat there applying the MBS to Kitt's bodywork, little did she know that her objections would soon prove correct.
The reunion between Michael and Kitt was very emotional. Bonnie watched as Michael struggled against tears and eventually lost. Bonnie had then ushered the rest of the team out and left herself to give the two partners a bit of privacy.
''It's good to see you again, Michael,'' Kitt said softly to his old friend, '' I missed you,''
'' I know Kitt, I know. It's good to see you, too, pal,'' Michael said, his voice sounding choked with emotion. He wrapped his arms around the steering wheel, needing to feel his partner just this once. ''Feel like a drive?'' Michael asked once he had a hold of himself.
''That would be wonderful.'' Kitt answered. The engine started with a pleasant turbine hum and the black TransAm rolled off toward the open road.
Richard Moss watched with some amusement as Dr Bonnie Barstow cautiously approached his car.
She probably thinks Karr holds a grudge, he thought.
''Dr. Barstow!'' Richard called as he stepped out of the shadows. Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin.
''Richard! You startled me, I just wanted to let you know that we're going to start applying Karr's molecular bonded shell, '' Richard put on a charming smile and nodded.
While they worked on Karr they talked about various things. His work with the MI5, telling Bonnie some of the more interesting, and unclassified stories, he even told her of how the bizarre circumstances in which he had met Michael, and by extension, formed the Knight Shadows. Bonnie told him of her previous time with the Foundation, telling Richard some stories about Michael and Kitt. Karr had added a sarcastic and unflattering commentary to Richard's tales but neither Richard nor Karr mentioned anything about Karr's previous encounters with Michael and Kitt, but Rick could tell that Bonnie still did not trust Karr. She still saw him as the KARR she had known back then, even though she had gone over Karr's program herself, and found the work done on re-writing his dominant program to be sound.
When they had finished Richard handed her a cup of coffee and said ''can I talk to you for a minute?''
''Sure,'' Bonnie replied and they both went into the house and sat down.
''You don't have to worry about him, you know,'' Richard said referring to Karr ''you went over Jade's work yourself, you know that there is no trace of that old program''
''The memory files are still there.'' Bonnie retorted before she could stop herself.
''That was intentional. We didn't want to erase who he was back then, that would just destroy his personality. We blocked off a lot of what he did, but he could access those files if he wanted."
"How much does he remember?" Bonnie asked hesitantly.
"Jut that he hurt people and that he tried to attack Michael and Kitt,'' Richard replied, ''He told me that he doesn't want to hurt anybody else, but he realizes that people are still afraid of him.''
Bonnie looked down at the brown liquid in her cup. ''I'm sorry,'' she whispered. Richard nodded and relaxed back into his chair.
"So, where do you know Dannie and Jade from?" Bonnie asked in a more casual tone. Rick smiled warmly, and began to spin a complicated and probably only half-true tale of electronic espionage, high-level hacking and the MI5, with Dannie, Rick and Jade right in the middle of the action.
Bonnie was laughing at some more of Rick's tall tales when they heard a high-pitched alarm coming from the lab.
''What's that? '' Richard asked her.
''The distress signal, Team Knight Rider must be under attack!'' They rushed toward the lab.
As soon as they got there Bonnie contacted Kitt. ''Kitt...'' she began but Kitt's voice cut her off.
''Yes, Bonnie, we heard it too. We're on our way.''
Bonnie bit her lip; the only other complete car was Fury. ''I'm sending Fury and Jade to back you up,'' She said.
Michael pulled Kitt to a halt among the tangled remains of what had once been Team Knight Rider.
''Anything Kitt?'' Michael heard himself ask.
''Yes,'' His partner replied, ''I can detect faint emissions from Dante's CPU and... Michael, there's a life sign!''
Michael got out of the car and was about to ask 'where' when he heard a low moan. Rushing to the man's side he discovered a heavily dazed and injured Kyle Stewart. While Michael treated the worst of his wounds he heard Fury pull up behind him.
''See what you can do for Dante,'' He told Jade. The blonde girl nodded and set to work.
Michael turned back to his partner, ''What happened?'' Michael asked.
''From what I can detect they seem to have been attacked by high-powered missiles, and since they didn't have a full strength MBS...'' Kitt trailed off.
''They didn't have a chance,'' Michael completed the thought. At that moment Kyle began to come around.
''It's alright Kyle, you're safe,'' Michael told him.
''Dante...'' Kyle gasped.
''He's alright,'' Jade broke in, ''Database is intact and CPU integrity is fairly stable,'' Kyle nodded and slumped back down onto the sand. ''But we do need to get him out of here,'' Jade continued ''we need to contact him somehow.''
''I'll do that,'' Kitt volunteered.
Kitt carefully reached out through the damaged connectors and comlines of the other car to contact the other AI.
''Who the..? Kitt! It's an honour...'' Dante's voice began, but Kitt cut him off.
''We can get to that later, Dante, right now we need to get you and Kyle out of here,'' Kitt told him
''I understand,'' Dante replied.
''Jade is going to remove you from the car,'' Kitt continued to explain.
''Alright,'' Dante said, but there was a slight tremor in his voice.
Kitt caught on to his nervousness, ''what's wrong?'' Kitt asked the other computer.
''I...I've never been out of the car body before,'' Dante said, but Kitt knew that to be a lie. Dante was probably just scared for his partner, and unwilling to admit it because of his stubborn insistence that he was only a machine
''Don't worry,'' Kitt reassured him, ''Fury and I will be here and Kyle will be carrying you, you wont be alone.''
The simple knowledge that Kyle was alive and conscious seemed to relieve most of Dante's nerves, but Kitt wasn't looking forward to what would happen when Dante found out what had happened to the rest of TKR.
Kitt sighed and told Jade to proceed, and the young hacker began to remove Dante's CPU from the car body.
Michael sat on the veranda outside Shadow base and watched the fabulous sunset. He held a bottle of beer in one hand, while hi other hand rested lightly on Kitt's front end. He was truly happy.
It was a pity that the person he saw jogging across the lawn toward the garages couldn't saw the same. Michael sighed; Kyle had developed a darkness that nothing he could say or do could dissipate. Anger and guilt, as well as a keen sense of failure were pulling at the younger man, creating a hollowness in his eyes, and a withdrawn and cold demeanor. Those feelings were ones that were intimately familiar to Michael; he remembered feeling them after Wilton Knight had 'rescued' him. Kyle could only work through those feelings himself. At least he had Dante to help him through it, as Michael had had Kitt.
"Is something wrong Michael?" Kitt asked, sensing Michael's pensive mood. Michael simply patted the warm metal hood.
"No pal, everything's fine."
It had been two weeks since the destruction of TKR, and Kyle's physical injuries were almost healed, but the wound of guilt refused to close. He had been the leader of TKR and he had failed them miserably. The guilt was awful. Kyle had almost left the Foundation until Dante had given a heart-rending plea to his driver not to abandon him. So for Dante's sake he had stayed.
Dante; He was almost repaired too. Kyle hadn't been expecting what they had done to his partner. He had been expecting that they would put Dante inside a Sports Utility Vehicle, something similar to his old body; instead he had been placed in a Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. The sort of car that Kyle had dreamed of owning when he had been a teenager. Kyle smiled and continued to walk down the corridor that led to the garages.
Kyle passed the Nissan Skyline that housed Karr and Kyle once again reflected on how eerily appropriate the boy-racer body was to Karr's personality. Kyle arrived in Dante's garage space just in time to see Richard lower the hood. Richard saw him and grinned.
''By the time I'm finished,'' Richard announced, ''Dante will go so fast, your eyes will pop!''
''I look forward to it,'' Kyle said dryly. Then he noticed something on Dante's nose, a flickering white light. ''What the hell is that?'' he asked pointing.
''That's my scanner, Kyle. Do you like it? "Dante said.
''Yeah, it's..very nice.'' Kyle said, perplexed.
''Why don't you get in and have a look inside?" Dante invited as the driver's door clicked open. Kyle accepted the invitation, and climbed into the luxurious gray leather seat. He looked around the dashboard, hardly believing the difference. The dash on Dante's old body had been somewhat minimalist, with most functions controlled by Dante himself. Here, however, most of the specialist functions had a manual override, thus presenting a myriad of backlit buttons that conspired to make the interior of the Corvette look suspiciously like the bridge of the starship Enterprise. There was also a strange panel just behind the steering wheel that didn't appear to have any function. Kyle almost jumped out of his skin when it lit up with the same bright white light as the scanner outside.
"What do you think?" Dante asked.
"There's so many buttons...I don't know what half of these things do."
"Many of them are for functions that usually other members of Team Knight Rider would have taken care of," Dante explained, with just the slightest hint of sadness in his voice, "The Shadows work as separate driver/car teams, so all vehicles need to cover a broad range of functions." The sad quality was gone now, the business-like tone had retuned to the British accented voice, but Kyle knew he had heard it, and now knew that Dante missed his teammates too.
"So, in other words, all I'm responsible for is you and me?"
"That is terrible grammar, Kyle, but essentially, yes, you are correct." Dante said.
That sat well with Kyle. He privately admitted that it would be a relief to not have the responsibility of an entire team on his shoulders.
Miles away, on a lonely desert highway, Michael Knight sat staring at the small monitor set in the dashboard. He leaned back in his seat and massaged his forehead.
A huge truck, with missiles and the molecular bonded shell, there could be very little doubt as to what it was.
''It's Goliath, isn't it,'' Michael said.
Kitt hesitated before replying, ''Yes, Michael, '' Kitt answered.
Michael groaned. ''But how? Garth's dead,'' Michael said, more thinking out loud than asking.
Kitt was silent for a long while before he could say what he knew he would have to say. "Michael, I have to tell you something.''
Michael heard the tremor in his partners voice and put his hand on the top of the dash to try to reassure him, ''What is it Kitt?'' He asked.
''It's about Mobius, I think he's...'' Kitt faltered ''I think he's...Garth Knight.''
Chapter 3
It was early morning, and Dante, Fury and Karr sat in their garage spaces. Kitt and Echo were off chasing leads. Trying to find the current location of the man who had once been called Garth Knight but now was simply known as 'Mobius'. The man was responsible for building the huge truck, Goliath, which had destroyed Dante's teammates. Just then Dante heard voices and groaned.
Karr and Fury were quarrelling again.
" So I got lost," Fury said, "the maps given to me were outdated!"
Karr snorted in derision, "you could get lost inside an Internet chat room," he said.
Dante winced. To a computer, that was a great insult.
"Says the computer that couldn't hack his way into a kindergarten database!" Fury retorted. Karr growled threateningly at the Ferrari. Dante sighed, knowing that there was nothing he could do to break it up; if he tried he would just be ignored. Fury would only listen to Kitt or Michael and Karr only paid attention to his driver. Before Karr and Fury's discussion could degenerate into name-calling Kitt and Michael arrived back, with Dannie and Echo not far behind.
*And not a moment too soon*, Dante thought.
"You'd better call your drivers, guys." Echo said, "We have had a sighting of Goliath."
The Nissan Skyline rolled cautiously through the abandoned industrial estate, scanners alert for any signs of trouble. Kitt and Michael Knight were on the other side of the estate also checking for any sign of Goliath or Mobius. Karr growled, he wasn't detecting anything at all and his short supply of patience was rapidly running out. He was about to declare the whole thing a waste of time when he finally found something.
"Rick," Karr said to his driver, "I am detecting a very large vehicle emerging from a building. The building itself appears to be shielded from my scanners." Karr informed Richard.
"Hmm, party time." Richard said with a grin. Karr almost sighed. Why wouldn't Richard take anything seriously?
"Hey Michael," Richard called Kitt's partner, "Looks like we've got some action."
"Be right with you." Michael replied. Richard and Karr drove over to the large warehouse and saw a huge gray truck head off toward the desert.
"Does that thing have the MBS?" Rick asked his car, sounding a bit shaken.
"Yes," Karr replied, "It is also armed with several high powered missiles."
"My scans indicate that they are the same frequency as those that destroyed TKR," Kitt's voice came over the comlink.
Richard regarded the building in front of them. "Did you say you couldn't scan this place?" He asked Karr.
"Correct." The Skyline replied.
Rick sighed, "Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He said and got out of the car. Just as Richard reached the open hangar doors, one of Garth Knight's nasty surprises activated. The small missile launcher took aim at the human intruder and fired.
Kitt detected the incoming missile and cried out a warning, "Richard! Look out!"
"Nooooo!!" Karr howled and shot in between the missile and his partner. There was an almighty exploding crash. Karr's MBS held, but it left a terrific dent in his side. "Karr!" Rick called, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," He replied, but his voice was strained, "Are you alright?" Karr asked.
Richard smiled weakly, "I'll live," he said patting the Skyline's hood, "thanks to you, anyway."
Karr had been prepared to sacrifice himself for his driver.
Somehow, that shocked Michael, he found himself wondering exactly how much Karr had changed.
Kitt sat thinking about this afternoon's events. Had Karr changed? Was there now a caring personality beneath the harsh exterior? Suddenly Kitt received a signal across the comlink, and to his surprise, realized it was Karr.
"Kitt?"
"Yes?"
"May we talk?"
Curious, Kitt agreed, "If you wish. What about?"
"I wish to apologize for my actions when we met before." He said.
"You remember it?" Kitt was surprised. He had thought that Karr's memories would have been erased.
"Not everything, no," Karr replied, "Rick said that keeping the memories would hurt me. I trust him, and I trust you, Kitt."
Kitt was taken aback. He hadn't expected this from someone who, only a few years ago, he would have automatically declared the enemy. For one of the few times in his life, Kitt found himself lost for words.
"I apologize for my previous actions." Karr then said.
"It wasn't your fault, Karr," Kitt tried to reassure, "it was your programming."
Karr gave an electronic sigh, "Perhaps," The older AI said, "goodnight Kitt."
So...Karr *had* changed.
"Goodnight, Brother." Kitt replied.
Karr's yellow scanner flickered from side to side in what could almost have been a smile.
It had been almost a week since the Knight Shadows had had a lead on Mobius or Goliath, and the strain was beginning to show on Dante's partner. He had not been sleeping well, his dreams haunted by images of the destruction of TKR; Kyle was wound as tight as a guitar string. If they did not find a lead soon, he was going to go insane. The only person he really felt capable of talking to was Dante, he was so terrified of forming a relationship of any kind with any member of this team, or indeed anyone. But Dante was safe, he denied any emotion so vehemently that it was very hard to form any sort of attachment to him, even though they were bonded in some way he couldn't even begin to describe, for some reason almost beyond his comprehension, he *needed* that stuck-up, haughty, pedantic AI.
Kyle wandered past the offices and garages, trying to walk off some of his anger and guilt, as he passed Fury's space he saw Jade who had fallen asleep at her computer, for the third time in as many days, she had been working very hard, contacting almost everyone she knew who had contacts in the gray areas between law and crime, and that was a surprisingly large amount, she had also become increasingly worried about him, frequently sitting him down and making him eat, even when appetite evaded her. The command prompt was flashing insistently, but Jade was oblivious, her head pillowed on the wrist-rest. Kyle took her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.
"Jade," he said, "Jade, wake up."
"Huh?" She murmured blearily. Then she saw something on the computer screen and instantly came to life and started tapping madly on the keyboard.
"What is it?" Kyle asked her, trying to keep the excitement from his voice.
"I've managed to locate two possible sites for Mobius' current base," Jade began but was interrupted when Fury ahem'ed.
Jade rolled her eyes, "Sorry Fury," she sighed. "*We* have managed to locate two possible sites for Mobius' current base," Jade tried again. Two maps appeared on the monitor, the locations outlined in red. Kyle grinned viciously, 'Finally' He thought.
Michael peered at the maps, trying to decide who to send where. He had never wanted to be in two places at the same time so badly. The others in the room stared at him expectantly, except Kyle, who had a knowing look on his face. Michael sighed deeply and made his decision.
"Okay, Kyle and Jade are with me at the biggest site. Dannie, Rick, you guys check the smaller one." There, he had done it. Speed combined with strength, He hoped it would work out. As the others left Kyle walked over and grinned at him.
"Not as easy as it looks, right?" He smiled
Michael just glared at him.
Kyle sat in Dante's drivers seat looking at a picture that had been brought up on the small monitor set in Dante's dash. It was a picture of who Mobius had once been, Garth Knight. Kyle had been startled to realize how alike Garth and Michael looked, their features were almost identical. But there were some differences, Garth's hair was a shade darker, he wore a beard and mustache and his eyes blazed with madness. Kyle shuddered. Michael and Garth were alike, but also very, very unlike. How many lives had Garth destroyed? And what was to come if the Knight Shadows could not stop him?
No He thought It won't happen, not while I'm still breathing Determination filled him Garth would not win this time.
The three sports cars and their drivers arrived at their destination. They split up to search different areas of the compound. Kyle and Dante got the central building, which appeared to be some kind of office. Kyle got out. "Kyle," Dante spoke up suddenly, "be careful."
Kyle smiled, touched by his cars' concern, "I will, Dante."
"Is there anything in there that I should know about?" He asked. Dante ran a quick scan, although he was still getting used to the capabilities of his new body "All I can find are some human life signs and some flammable chemicals in the far end, one of the life signs is in a wheelchair." Dante replied.
"Hmm" Kyle said, "See if you can knock out the power supply, that should give me time to find Mobius."
Dante didn't like the tone of his partner's voice, but kept quiet about it. "Very well," he sighed. Kyle entered the building, his eyes and ears alert for anything. From ahead of him he heard the sound of heavy, labored breathing. A man in an electric wheelchair rolled to a stop in front of him.
"Mobius." Kyle said, his voice devoid of inflection.
"Welcome, Mr. Stewart," Mobius cackled, "welcome, to your death,"
Kyle didn't move. He could see the same blazing insanity in Mobius' eyes, as had been in the picture of his younger self. "What do you want, Garth?" He asked flatly.
Mobius laughed again, "I haven't heard that name in a very long time. As for what I want, that is simple. I want every last remnant of my Father's dream destroyed, and that includes you, Stewart. That is why I have watched and waited all these years, my greatest triumph will be to destroy Michael Knight, the man who took my name and my face and in return, gave me this broken body."
Kyle remained motionless, "Is that why you took Kitt's CPU?"
Mobius cackled again, "But of course! What better way to lure my brother to me than to take his beloved partner?"
Suddenly, from behind him Kyle heard the sound of an explosion. Dante must have succeeded in taking out the power supply. Kyle tried to make a run for it, but was restrained from the behind.
"You are not going anywhere, Mr. Stewart. When this building blows up, so will you. Then I will go after your friends, one at a time, until they are all dead. I was not prepared for your little attack on my warehouse, but rest assured I will not make that mistake again. This team is doomed Stewart, just like the last one was." Mobius said. He then touched a control on his chair.
Nothing happened.
Kyle would have to thank Dante for that later.
He swung a punch at his captor, hitting him on the side of the head and knocking him to the floor. The mans' gun slid right to Kyle's feet.
He picked up the gun.
The flames crashed through the wall, and began creeping towards the far end.
Kyle Stewart held the gun pointed at the now helpless man in the wheelchair, rage filling his mind And in that moment, Kyle couldn't see the man a few feet away from him, he couldn't hear Dante's pleas over the comlink for him to get out of there, and he couldn't feel the heat from the fires all around him. All he could see was the explosion that had consumed Domino and Jenny, all he could hear was her screams as she had died, and all he could feel was fiery hatred toward the man who had caused it to happen.
Kyle pulled the trigger.
At the same time the flames reached the highly flammable chemicals in the far end of the building the wall behind Garth Knight exploded, enveloping him in a huge fireball.
Dante finally managed to reach his driver.
"Kyle! My God man! Get in!" The Corvette gasped. Kyle almost fell through the open door, his mind in a daze. Dante crashed through one of the remaining walls and raced over to where Fury and Kitt were waiting. Michael and Jade both got out of their cars and ran over to Kyle, who also got out.
"Are you okay?" Jade asked, concerned.
"I...Don't know." Kyle replied staring at the gun in his hand.
Michael looked equally concerned, but all he said was; "Lets go home, huh?" And walked back to Kitt. Jade gave him a strange half-smile and also returned to her partner. Kyle looked from the gun to the building.
He would never know what had killed Mobius, his bullet, or the flames.
But for now, he decided that it didn't matter.
For now, he was happy to just be with his partner, doing what he had always wanted to do:
Make a difference.
THE END