"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted."
-- The Princess Bride
Two Faced
I.
Ron watched with fascination as his breath came out in billowy clouds of white. Tracking one exhaled puff of white he failed to notice as Kim came up behind him. "Hey Ron you ready?"
Ron gave out a startled cry spinning around to stare at Kim as she stood there in her red coat looking at him with a curious look on her face. Gulping slightly Ron brought his hand up rubbing the back of his neck as he looked his best friend and now girlfriend in the eye. "Sure KP." Laughing slightly he looked behind him at the object of their mission. "Sure KP ready to go. Yeah..."
Ron gulped as he looked at the large stone fortress set out in the middle of nowhere. Its imposing stone walls and towers covered by a thick blanket of snow as its dark openings to the world spoke volumes of what a person would find inside. Useless and uninformative volumes.
"Come on Ron lets get the artifact and head home." Ron glanced to his side as the red head next to him grabbed his hand with a smile and started to tug him towards the entrance. "Tell you what when we hook back up with our ride I'll treat you to a cup of Coca-Moo okay?"
Ron perked up at that and even noticed Rufus coming out of his warm hiding spot to stare at Kim eagerly. "With marshmallows?"
"Of course."
"You promise you won't use them all on your hotdogs like last time."
Ron stared at Kim's back as she stiffened not looking back. When she finally started forward Ron heard a hasty mumble coming from her. "Not promising anything."
Frowning Ron followed after Kim trying to save his marshmallows from a cruel culinary travesty. "Come on KP you know it's not Coca-Moo without marshmallows!"
"No big Ron I'm sure there will be plenty left." Ron frowned at that shaking his head.
"So what's the game plan anyway?" He stared around at the dark hallway they currently occupied illuminated by the weak glow of Kim's Kimmunicator which she held in front of her.
"Well I figure we find the artifact and leave." Ron turned around a frown on his face.
"What about mummies?"
"What mummies?"
"You know mummies! This is an old creepy place after all."
"So?"
"Well come on KP everyone knows that old creepy places have mummies."
"I thought only pyramids had mummies." Ron sighed at that shaking his head wondering why his oldest friend could be so dense at times. Glancing around, he noticed that the walls had figures dotting it holding up various objects like shinning circles and glowing swords. It was a very odd place indeed.
"Hey KP what are we..." Ron never finished that statement as his next step was into open air. Letting out a startled cry he fell into the darkness unable to hear the cries of panic from his companion. What he did hear was the haunting sound of a stone slamming shut above him.
Ron's fall through the darkness ended as quickly as it had begun when in the middle of screaming out a 'mommy' once more he fell back into light. Hitting the ground hard he let out a pain filled gasp before falling back on his back relieving his currently very painful sitting area.
"Well look what aunty Shego just found. It's the sidekick." Ron's eyes shot open as he looked up seeing a rather happy villainess leaning over him.
"Um...would you believe I'm on your side?"
Shego just lifted her clawed hand at this letting it light up with green flame. "I'm all ears." Ron closed his eyes knowing this wasn't going to be fun.
II.
Shego sighed as she shifted her weight not caring for the current edition of her favorite fashion magazine. For some crazy reason the editor had decided to go with lighter colors like pink and blue for the current fashion lineup. This horrid choice of colors so turned Shego off that she just couldn't get herself to read any further then the first part of the magazine. If only she had brought some of her older copies in order to pass the time.
"Hey sidekick, what do you and Princess usually do to kill time?" Shego looked up staring at the unconscious blond haired youth as he hung suspended over the deep and dark hole in front of her. With a grin she rose from her sit heading in his direction. "Then again I'm sure you probably don't like me talking about killing anything right now. Am I right?"
Shego cocked her head to the side as she looked up at the young man's bruised face. His explanation earlier had earned him a laugh mind you but Shego was a stickler for the rules. As always the good guys had to fight the bad guys and sadly for the buffoon he wasn't that good in the area. Shego sighed at that looking back towards the entrance into this room.
'Where is the Princess when you need her?' Shego stood pacing slightly as she waited. She knew Kimmie would find her since she had let the rodent run off but still it annoyed her how long she had to wait. Was it so much to ask that the girl not waste her time.
Sitting back down she glanced at Stoppable a smile coming back to her face at the way he swung slightly from side to side as he hung suspended. "So you think Kimmie's going to be ticked when she sees you. I hope so since I'm looking forward to a fight." Shego smiled as she studied her sharpened claws picturing the ticked off red head in her mind. Of all the people Shego had meet in her life Kimmie had proven to be the most fun to fight. She really regretted the fact that someday she'd finally do in the goody two shoes cheerleader after all who would she have to play with then?
"Ron!" Shego's head came up looking back to see the guest of honor standing at the entrance currently staring at her clownish sidekick. Smiling Shego pointed her hand towards one of the key support structures for the rope holing the sidekick letting her comet powers washing over the black claws on her hand.
"Just in time Kimmie to watch him go splat." Shego could see Kimmie tense at that before starting forward even as Shego blasted the support causing the rope to slowly start to give way. Shego's grin grew wider as she watched the look of fear cross Kimmie's face when the poor Princess heard the explosion even as Kimmie grabbed her annoying grappler hairdryer. One of these days Shego would have to destroy that.
With mild amusement, Shego observed as Kimmie fired the hook into the ceiling launching herself forward to save the blond haired clown. It always amused Shego to let the good guys have these little chances to manage to make it out alive. It was just so boring to simply shot them after all when you can watch them scurry around like ants trying to save themselves. If they lived then even better since you can try it again but it really didn't matter. Shego got paid either way.
"Ron hold on!" Shego smirked as she heard the cheerleader cry out to her friend as she swung in to save him. To Shego's slight annoyance she managed to nab him right as the last support holding the rope in place gave way. How she always managed to do that was beyond Shego.
"Good job Princess you managed to save the buffoon after all." Shego's grin disappeared though when the red head ignored her comments instead lightly setting the young man down. To Shego's surprise the girl quickly took out a knife slicing through the bonds holding Ron before gently starting to stroke some life into the boy's limbs. 'Didn't know Princess carried a knife.'
Shrugging Shego started forward moving towards the red head intent on making her regret ignoring her. To Shego's satisfaction the red head finally stood up her back facing her as Shego moved ever closer. "Why?"
"Why?" Shego stopped frowning more at the cold tone of voice then the question. It didn't sound anything like the Kimmie she knew.
"Why did you hurt him?" Shego blinked unsure of where this was going not liking the tone she was hearing from Kimmie. It wasn't the energetic and excited girl she was used to.
Trying to regain her composer Shego shrugged her shoulders before starting her forward motion once more. "Felt like it."
"I see." Shego raised her gloves finally having enough with this conversation as she allowed the green flame to wash over them. Lifting them slightly she smiled as she lined the Princess up for a vicious barrage of green fire.
"So do you like medium well or well done? I'm partial to well done." Shego waited seeing if the girl would respond but when she did nothing Shego just let out a grunt prepared to smoke the girl.
With a quick turn though Kimmie spun around a large brown object flying Shego's way before Shego could react. Stepping back in surprise Shego let her green flames blink out raising her clawed gloves to knock the approaching object away. With a growl of frustration she slashed the brown object out of her path her face tracking its motion for a second before looking back towards her opponent. This was a mistake as one hard black boot was quickly approaching her.
With a sickening thud the boot made contact with Shego's face causing her vision to explode even as her nerves screamed out in protest. Trying to recover Shego shook her head, as she stumbled backwards, staring at the smudge of red in front of her. "Why you..." Shego failed to complete that statement as a hard object made contact with her chest knocking the wind out of her.
As her lungs collapsed from the blow causing Shego to bend forward she watched with a strange detachment as her opponent simply flipped her body over bringing two feet up towards Shego's descending face. 'She's better then I thought.' This one thought filled Shego's mind before her world went black with bright lights exploded all around her.
III.
Shego's eyes opened once more as she tried to sit up in a hurry. Her entire body protested this move as the world around her started to spin. Staring through narrowed eyes she scanned her surrounding seeing Kimmie standing there in a defensive position her green eyes passively watching her. Shego belated realized the last blow most of knocked her unconscious for a few seconds.
Standing once more despite the pain and the dizziness she let out a growl looking at the girl in front of her. "You'll pay for that." Lighting up her fist she followed through on her threat by unleashing a blazing series of plasma fire bolts her intent to kill the cheerleader once and for all.
With her vision now obscured by her own plasma related furry Shego failed to see the red blur to her right before it was too late. Yet again a black boot came in towards her face striking her in the nose this time and interrupting her furry. Giving a cry of pain in response Shego stumbled back not expecting the pure furry of the attack. When Kimmie's next kick struck her in the knee Shego finally gave up the fight letting herself hit the ground and desperately trying to shield herself from the series of kicks that rain down on her.
'This isn't like Princess.' This thought bounced around in Shego's pain fogged mind as another blow took her in the ribs causing a gasp of pain to escape her lips. It was more then the willingness of the girl to hurt her after all she had expected her to try. It was instead in the way she had fought. Instead of dodging and luring Shego out like she usually did Kimmie had been the aggressor in the fight. The one who had attacked first instead of trying to counter like she usually did. This aggressive form of fighting was not what Shego was used to and it most of all caused her great concern.
When the blows finally stopped Shego could hear Kim standing besides her breathing slightly heavy from the exertion. Rolling over Shego looked with a puffy eye up at Kimmie seeing the girl's face flushed red with exertion but with no other apparent facial expression on her face. Smirking despite her situation Shego gave a weak taunt in reply. "Not done yet are you Princess?"
To her surprise the girl simply nodded her head before reaching into her belt even as she fell down on one knee. Kimmie's free hand shot out grasping Shego's chin and pulling the villainess head back. Staring into the twin green eyes Shego was unable to grasp the meaning of this until she felt one cold sharp edge push slightly up against her throat. "Almost Shego."
Shego blinked surprised by this reply and the brutal coldness of Kim's stare. Something told Shego she was but a thought away from having a new air passage created for her. "Come on Princess you can't be serious?"
"This is twice Shego that you've gone too far. Why shouldn't I be?" Shego blinked remembering back to the night of the Diablos and the cold stare Kim had given her that time. At the time she had honestly thought Kim was trying to kill her but had later dismissed it as being just one ticked off teenager. Now she wasn't so sure.
Shego glanced towards her side in the direction of the sidekick seeing his annoying rodent staring at the two of them in shock. Grasping on an idea she looked back at Kim a small smile coming to her face. "What would your sidekick say about this?"
In reply the knife only dug deeper into Shego's skin drawing a slight bit of blood as Shego's heart rate increased in fear. "He probably wouldn't like it. What's your point?"
Shego swallowed at that seeing that the girl wasn't going to respond to that argument. Trying another route she decided to use the old villain trick. "Come on Kim you're not going to kill me. You're the good guy after all so you know you have to give me up to Global Justice like usual." Seeing those two green eyes still stare down at her without the slightest hint of emotion Shego rambled onwards her fear becoming clear. "Killing changes you. You don't want to do something like that."
"'Thinking about killing a person is hard. Doing it is easy.' That's what my older teacher used to say Shego." Shego gulped at that staring up at Kim as she watched the younger girl finally break eye contact to glace to the side. Shego felt her heart about ready to explode as the young woman looked back leaning in slightly.
"Don't ever target the people I love ever again Shego. I'm nowhere as nice as you all seem to think I am." Finally the girl stood up her knife flashing in a dazzling display of light as it went back into her belt. "If there's a strike three Shego I won't stop halfway. Got it?"
"Yeah..." Shego's world once more went dark as a hard kick to the side of her head followed her response.
IV.
Ron's eyes fluttered open slightly as he felt a warm and pleasant sensation on his lips. Staring in front of his he saw a weird red, green, and white blob dominate his vision. Blinking in shocked horror he let out a cry but found his mouth obstructed. With that the weird monster attacking him backed away smiling a toothy grin at him.
"Morning sleepy head."
"KP?" Ron looked at his girlfriend with surprise as the blushing girl adjusted her red hair her green eyes twinkling in his direction. "Where are we?"
"On board the USS Nicholson." Ron frowned surprised to find himself on board...a ship? "A destroyer actually Ron."
"Oh thanks KP." Ron smiled up at his life long companion as she sat by his bedside. Moving his arm slightly he winced with pain and remembered finally why he was here at the moment anyway. "What happened?"
Kim simply shrugged at his question as she leaned back a thoughtful look coming over her face. "Well I found the artifact and managed to knock Shego around. Not much happened other than that."
"That's it? I'm sure your fight with Shego was more then that KP." Ron shook his head not happy he had missed it either. He worried about Kim sometimes after all she was far too gentle, despite her hero status, and people like Shego were prone to take advantage of that. Despite being a martial artist she really didn't like hurting people and he worried someday someone would use that against her.
Like usual Kim just shrugged off his worry with a smile. "It was no big honest Ron."
"If you say so KP." Ron shook his head deciding to let it drop. He was provided with his pleasant distraction as his girl leaned in close, her eyes twinkling. Ron smiled as he breathed in the sweet smell of her vanilla shampoo that she loved to use.
"You know I'm always happy to save you right?" Kim then finished leaning in giving him a kiss on his nose before leaning back. "After all you're my damsel in distress."
Ron blinked surprised by that statement before frowning. "Hey the Ron-man is no damsel in distress. With my bondigity skills I'm the hero all the way."
"And that's why I'm always saving you?"
"Occasionally."
"Frequently." Ron leaned back a sullen expression on his face as Kim laughed at that. Leaning in once more Ron watched as her green eyes twinkled with mirth and her kissable lips curved upwards in a grin.
"You know I get certain benefits for being the hero right?"
Ron frowned at Kim leaning back away from her as she smiled in his direction. "Like what?"
"Like a kiss from the fair maiden? It's only fair after all."
Ron's eyes light up at that as he looked back at those lips and those eyes. His grin widen as he leaned in forward. "Hey I'm a man who repays my debts."
"Like the money you owe Felix?" Ron decided it would be prudent at this point to repay the more important debt at the moment. Closing the distance he kissed Kim gently enjoying her warmth. As she leaned in Ron once more marveled at the way this small and gentle girl could act so strong in front of the villains she faced. If only they knew the true Kim like him.
Off to the side one very happy rodent watched his two humans bond once more as he finished up a wedge of cheese. He really didn't understand a lot of the crazy stuff they did but he liked them. He was also very good at keeping secrets. It's why Ron and Kim both liked him after all.
The End
A/N: Well this is just a test piece I decided to write up showing the two possible sides of Kim. On the one hand we see the normal friendly girl we watch on the show while on the other hand we see the highly trained fighter. Granted I doubt we'll ever see that side of Kim on Disney, except for StD, but this fic is just a test after all. Nothing important to it.
On another note this fic proves yet again something that's been proved a long time ago. Surforst writes Kim and Shego into stories and has Kim saving Ron. A criticism a while back by a couple of angry Kigo fans claiming I didn't just had me shaking my head. Probably never read any of my works anyway.
Well as always leave a review and I'll reply as soon as FF net gets around to sending out the emails. I guess that means expect a review next year.
Well on that note good night.
Disclaimer: I don't own KP.