AN: Well, I've had this sitting on my computer for a while, but I couldn't decide where to go with it. Now that I have that in mind, I'm finally ready to post it. This isn't actually the sequel to Emeral and Kitsune, more it is a side story, telling a little about the team Betty has put together to capture Kim and Shego. So, ready or not, here it comes. Enjoy this 'Training Day'.
"Not fast enough." The Chinese woman said as she ducked under another strike from Bonnie's bokken. "You are talented but you let your rage control your strikes… if that is how you intend to face Miss Possible you will be beaten soundly."
Bonnie looked at her current teacher, the bokken held steadily in its ready position and her training gi soaked to her body with sweat. This is how Sifu taught. She showed you the katas first. Next she worked you through them till you could do them in your sleep. Then she brought in the practical aspect. She forced you to use the style against a live target, namely herself. Until you could land a blow on her you were not allowed to move on in the training. So far Bonnie was on the second step of her training, the sword. Everyone else had progressed to sais. Her entire team was three steps beyond her.
"I apologize Sifu…" Bonnie clutched the blade tighter and charged again only to have Sifu leap over her head.
"If you are not going to change your tactics, do not apologize for them. You must bury all emotion… all rage, all hate, all passion, and make your soul as calm as it can possibly be… have you not been reading the works I've assigned you?" Sifu walked around her student, the Chinese woman's hands clasped behind her back.
"I've been trying Sifu, but I keep seeing her face!" Bonnie struck again and again her teacher avoided the blow as if it had not come at all.
"Enough!" Sifu called as she looked at Bonnie. "You are exhausted, and your abilities are suffering due to that and due to your rage. We'll work on meditation now and see if we can help you find your center."
Sifu turned her back to her student knowing that Bonnie would follow. She listened as Bonnie walked behind her, hearing the teen taking the long slow breaths that she'd been taught to calm herself. Sifu smiled as they reached the room that she had turned into a meditation chamber. The entire interior had been set up to channel and calm the soul. Sifu took her place at one point of the room as Bonnie sat opposite her.
"Tell me my student, do you know why they brought me to teach you?" Sifu asked as Bonnie's eyes locked with hers.
"No Sifu, only that you are very skilled; they expect us to be as well." Bonnie said.
"This is true, in the past few months you have trained diligently and your marksmanship, leadership, and survival skills are top rate for your time here. What you're failing at is channeling your rage and controlling your emotional response. In battle you see not the thief and master martial artist that Kim Possible is, you see only the rival that you faced in your time as a student of Middleton High School." Sifu smiled, "You can not defeat Kim Possible if you do not see her for what she truly is."
Bonnie sighed, closing her eyes and letting her mind clear. She placed Kim's image in her mind and all she could see was what Kim had been in high school. The cheerleader captain who blocked every attempt she made to advance herself. Her rage started to build and she quickly focused again to keep it from boiling over. She forced herself to picture Kim without her rage, but it was a constant struggle in her mind.
"I am sorry Sifu, I keep seeing her as the bitch I knew in high school." Bonnie punched the ground in front of her.
"This will be a great struggle for you my student, but it is a struggle you must overcome. We are done for the day. Your next lesson will be sent to you." And with that, Sifu closed her eyes, meditating. For her it was as effective as leaving the room.
Bonnie stood and walked out, heading for the firing range. She needed stress relief and unloading a few rounds from her personal weapons would help. Her smile turned back into the sinister sneer she wore when she walked the halls of Middleton High. Her mind kept running through what she needed to be. Her sneer, her attitude, her entire self had to say she was the queen bitch of the world; that way it would hide the real her from her opponents.
In her head she knew what that was. It was the same thing she was doing with Kim. She just couldn't see Kim for what she really was. All she knew was the bitch. She'd overcome it, she'd prove she was better than Possible.
"Perfect." She smiled.
The firing range was empty and provided a perfect chance for her to practice and relieve her stress at the same time. She opened the private locker she'd been assigned and drew the twin Colt 45 Caliber Special Combats that she'd asked Dr. Director for. The weight of the handguns was comforting. She set them on the shelf at the head of the range and sent a target out.
"Going to check your weapons before you fire?" The voice made Bonnie smirk even before she turned.
"Agent Du." Bonnie ejected the clip on one weapon and carefully checked it, reloading before repeating the motion on her other weapon.
"Commander Rockwaller." Will drew his weapon from the locker, a standard issue nine millimeter Beretta.
"I was hoping for some privacy on the range…" Bonnie said as she took a stance, a gun in each hand.
"That's an impressive looking stance Rockwaller, but it's essentially just for show in the movies… you don't really expect to…" Will was silenced by the firing of the guns.
Bonnie didn't bother to answer the agent as she began to squeeze the triggers. It had taken her months to perfect this stance and be able to aim with it, but now she knew what she was doing. There was no way in hell Agent Stick in His Ass was going to bug her when she was shooting. She smiled as she squeezed off the last of thirty shots.
"As I was saying…" Will began again.
"Agent Du, why don't you check my target while I reload." She turned away from him and went back to her locker to draw another set of magazines.
Will shook his head and pulled the target back, his eyes widening as he examined it. He counted five shots in the head, five where the heart would be, five in either shoulder, and ten in the lower abdomen. What worried him was that they were all grouped perfectly; two shots up top, one centered, two shots below. Just like a domino.
"Ready to stop questioning my ability, Agent Du?" Bonnie said as she returned and sent another target down the range.
"Of course, Commander." Will sighted down his gun at his own target as Bonnie took her unorthodox stance again.
"You're pissed that I got promoted to a commander's slot as a new agent purely based on the emotional effect I'll have on Possible, aren't you?" Bonnie started firing again; alternating between guns.
Will didn't reply; keeping his eyes focused on his front sights. He fired off fifteen shots in five groups of three. Without blinking or taking his eyes of the target, he ejected the slide, fitting it into a pouch on his belt and reloaded. Another fifteen shots.
Bonnie watched as he drew the target back, her shooting long since over. She smiled as she notice the scattered groupings. He'd have made a perfect score under normal range standards, but she'd already proven she was a better shot. Will growled as he sent a new target down the range.
"Is there a reason you're using the range on your off time, Commander Rockwaller?" Will asked, trying to change the subject.
"It's relaxing. And you didn't answer my question, which sort of answered it, Will." Bonnie laughed and locked her guns up before leaving a fuming agent to continue his practice, her mood brightened by humiliating an underling.
Bonnie shot an arm out to turn her alarm off, rolling out of bed before it even started to buzz. She smiled as she watched the clock switch from five twenty nine to five thirty. She walked to the private shower in her room as she shed her panties, not bothering with the lights. She reached out for the water controls and turned the shower on as hot as it would go, stepping into the steaming water.
"Ahhh… hot… hot…" She dipped her head under the water as the scalding heat caused her body to tingle. "Perfect."
Her hand reached out in the darkness of the bathroom, picking up the body wash and the gauze sponge, her smile returning as she found them right where she left them. She squeezed the strawberry scented body wash into the sponge and began her shower.
"Is thar a reason Ya'll showers in the dark?"
The voice broke her peace for a moment but she shrugged anyway and returned to her daily ritual.
"I find it relaxing, it helps me meditate and prepare for the day ahead, what's brought you into my room so early this morning, Joss." She dipped her head under the water again, straining her ears to hear what her team member said.
"I reckon Sifu wants us to practice your sword skills together today. I got woke up an hour ago with a note and the bokkens. We're on training field two in twenty minutes."
"I'll be out in two, and we can head that way. Wait outside." Bonnie poured some shampoo in her hand.
"Sure thang Marshal. Oh, Note said full gear." Joss left Bonnie to get ready.
Bonnie stared across the field at Joss; she was wearing a black, armored catsuit. Standard issue for any GJ tactical officer. What wasn't standard was the bright red leather trench coat that covered it and the black leather swing holsters attached to the coat. Bonnie's bokken was poised above her head, blade up and parallel to the ground. Her left hand poised out as if holding a gun, and body cocked to the side as she faced Joss.
Joss held two bokkens, shorter than Bonnie's and with a bit more curve. She had a bow slung on her back and an empty quiver attached to her leg. Her black body suit was identical to Bonnie's, but lacked sleeves and the trench coat. Instead a blue hooded top covered her upper body and shades concealed her face. Her right hand had a glove with only the middle and ring finger covered and her left forearm was covered by a blue guard. She stood facing Bonnie, one bokken held back fisted, the other forward and guarding her.
"Ready Marshal?" Joss asked.
"Why did Sifu send you?" Bonnie asked as she leapt forward and brought her blade down on Joss.
Joss blocked easily and spun out of the way, bringing her back fisted blade forward to attack. "Don't know. Said I'se the one who could make ya'll focus."
"Cause you're Kim's Cousin?" Bonnie avoided the strike easily as she brought her blade back in to take out the younger Possible's legs.
Joss leapt over the blade and brought one bokken down to rest on Bonnie's shoulder. "Ya'll thought about my cuz, and ya'll lost powerful quick thar Marshal."
"You're right." Bonnie stepped back and thought about it. "How do you do it Joss? How do you find the peace?"
"It ain't easy thar Marshal." Joss smiled, "At first, all I could think of is how Cuzzin Kim betrayed us; her folks, me, the world, all of us. But then I realized, it wasn't about her, it was about me."
"It's all about me?" Bonnie laughed. "I should be a master at it then."
"That was my battle Marshal… not yours." Joss shrugged.
"Well what's my battle Joss?" Bonnie asked.
"Danged if I know Marshal." Joss smiled, "But if'n you figure it out, ya'll damn sure kick Kim's ass."
Bonnie smiled, "Again."
"Whatever ya say Marshal…" Joss stepped back a few feet and took her ready stance.
"I thought they were giving you language and vocal lessons to help you lose that accent…" Bonnie said as she closed her eyes a moment and pictured Kim in Joss's place
"They are Marshal," Joss said, all traces of her accent gone. "However, I thought that my unique dialectic might loosen you up. If you wish I will speak properly."
"Doesn't matter to me Joss…" Bonnie opened her eyes and saw Kim standing there, "All I see is my opponent." Bonnie shot forward, her bokken arching to attack as Joss who brought the back fisted blade up to block.
"Nice…" Joss's compliment was cut short as Bonnie's boot came up and kicked her other arm to block the girl's attack. "Ow!"
Bonnie's eyes locked on the girl's but only saw Kim's green as she reversed the kick and her blade. Her foot connected with Joss's wrist and the blade went flying as hers came to the girl's throat and a loud clap finally broke the spell that Bonnie was under.
"Now, my student, you are ready." Sifu's voice spoke as she walked onto the field, a bokken in her hand.
Bonnie's eyes rested on Joss, seeing her as herself for the first time since the second bout began. Slowly she drew her bokken away and nodded at the girl. "Thank you Joss." Bonnie said and turned to Sifu.
"So, my student, what is your battle?" Sifu took a ready stance.
"Fear!" Bonnie shouted as she attacked.
Bonnie smiled as she lay back in her hot tub, she was ready.
EndNote: That's all for chapter one, Bonnie's day. So, please, review, let me know what you think, and tell me what you wanna see. Catch in Chapter Two: Joss's Day.