Author's Foreword
Hey there, everyone! This is an expansion of the ficverse presented in "A Strange Feeling", covering where Shego's been since she seemingly disappeared. It's been co-written with kgs-wy, and we hope you enjoy it!
Hard, loud slaps echoed from the open windows and skylight of the large, detached gymnasium in the Imperial Housing District of Zerstorest, capital city of the Lorwardian Empire. Any Lorwardian looking in on the two small figures trading martial blows would have wondered if they were practicing, or resolving a minor marital dispute, while humans looking at them would wonder if they were trying to kill each other. The building was part of a rather palatial estate connected directly with the Imperial Gardens, which in turn were connected with the Imperial Palace itself.
Even on a planet as large as Lorwardia, an estate of its size in the capital city was impressive, much akin to having a home in the center of New York's downtown and taking up almost as much space as Central Park. The Imperial City, despite its population of nearly thirty million, was barely as large as Denver, Colorado. It was, however, very vertical, with housing blocks stretching upwards of two kilometers into the sky. And, despite the overall warlike bent that was the core of Lorwardian culture, the city was stunning; architecture that was beautiful and practical, many 'garden zones' and parks, even the pure, strong flowing Zarklagh River, upon which pleasure craft lazily plied the currents.
The planet of Lorwardia orbited almost dead center on its star's 'Goldilocks Zone', but at a much larger orbit, in keeping with the star's much larger size. It was close to half again as large as Earth, but due to a higher abundance of lighter, and in many cases rarer, elements in its crust, it was somewhat less dense than Earth, making its gravity 'merely' 1.35 times that of Earth. Although it had as much water, proportionally, as Earth, it actually had less surface water, most of which was confined to rivers and inland lakes with only a few large oceans dotting the planet; to the surprise of Earth geologists that had been invited to study Lorwardia, most of its water reserves were underground.
The land along the oceanic coasts, lakes and rivers had an environment that was much like Earth's tropical and temperate rain forests, but outside of that, the planet was more in keeping with high summer in the western Great Plains and eastern United States. The average planetary temperature hovered at a comfortable 20 degrees C, something both of the combatants in the gymnasium were quite used to. Its axial tilt was lower than Earth's, and while it had seasons, they were far less extreme than the Earth's; there was frozen water only at the higher mountainous elevations and a few degrees from the very poles, and even then, the ice usually wasn't there all year round.
Even though they were used to similar temperature and humidity, the atmospheric density was something else. While being quite close to Earth's mix of airborne elements, Lorwardia's atmosphere was denser at or near sea level, something which could have caused the two humans problems, but was it was still within acceptable limits. Almost as if in compensation, there was a higher oxygen content, which significantly increased the two combatants already prodigious stamina, something many of their Lorwardian compatriots had commented upon. They had already been sparring their hardest, holding nothing back for nearly an hour and a half, and showed very few signs of slowing down.
One of those signs being that they still needed water, which had forced them to take four water breaks. The increased heat from exertion was taking a visible toll on them, sweat plastering even the heavy gi uniforms they wore to their bodies. The man had resorted to pulling at the lapels of his gi to force cooling air across his chest, but the female had other things in mind. While facing away from him, she pulled the lapels of her uniform apart, not so far as to show the entirety of the breasts, but enough to show an expanse of cleavage that she knew would distract him.
Smirking at the thought of his reaction, she capped her water bottle and tossed it next to her gym bag then, keeping her back to him, took her place in the sparring circle. "Hurry up, I'm tired of waiting." She heard a protesting groan, quickly followed by the shuffle of his feet. She turned, barely held back a chuckle as he took his place as she kept her gi top mostly open, allowing her spin to bounce her chest in a very distracting manner.
Shego, the female combatant, didn't bother to suppress her smirk as her opponent's eyes slid down from her face to the half-open top of her gi, and gave a further jerk to her frame as she slipped into a stance, all to keep his attention on her distracting figure. Seeing that his eyes were glued to her chest despite his attempts otherwise, she jumped forward with a kick. The kick, however, was a feint, and when he brought his hands down to block, she reached up and grasped the lapels of his gi, before squeezing her right foot up between them and placing her foot in his breadbasket.
She immediately collapsed her left leg, rolling onto her rear, shoving her right foot slightly upwards and firmly back, using all of her not insignificant strength. The throw was perfectly executed, sending her opponent flying upwards just over two meters and backwards by almost six, even in the higher gravity. While it would have been an amazing throw to someone unfamiliar with her back on earth, it was something she'd done more than a couple times with Kim Possible during her days as a villain. After almost two years of training on Lorwardia, her already prodigious strength had increased notably, so the throw was, to her mind, quite unspectacular.
Her follow-through was done with her typical cat-like grace, twisting her legs and head about her center as she tumbled back upright, her upper body following like flowing water. She took her stance again and stared at her opponent as he twisted about his own center while airborne. She couldn't help but chuckle, as the man had left himself open for just that move, "What's the matter, not paying enough attention to your opponent?"
His recovery, while not the graceful, cat-like moves of the pale green woman, were nonetheless agile and showed an alacrity she'd have never accused of him when he was still in high school. The more things change... she thought morosely, a memory flashing unbidden into her mind, as they had with more frequency as late...
RSRSRSRS
"For the love of..." Shego hissed as she glared around the gymnasium of Lorwardian High Ambassador's battlecruiser, Defiant Virtue. There was a full security squad, which consisted of half a dozen Lorwardians, on their off time with her. Two of them were nursing mild sprains and one of them was righting herself from being thrown into the wall with a good deal of force. All of them were there, and eager, to 'spar' with 'Lady Blue', as they called Shego, but this had barely been an exercise! "I wanted a good sparring session, not this, this..."
The Lorwardians seemed a mix of insulted, abashed and resigned as she spread her hands out in clear disbelief at their failings. Battlehaft, the squad leader, was tall, and, while thin, was quite powerful. Shego was quite annoyed with her, though, since she'd just easily tossed into the woman into the wall. The demure Lorwardian woman glanced about her cautiously before speaking up, "I am sorry, Lady Blue, but when you said sparring, we did not realized you wished a full combat simulation."
"Wha-..." Shego got out, her face screwed up in confusion, "Rewind, Beanstalk, and explain that like I don't know what you mean." She barely held back the urge to growl, realizing that she'd almost directly quoted the Buffoon.
There were a few chuckles among the gathered warriors, who seemed to finally gather that they were in a state of misunderstanding with the small yet powerful primate. Sighing at the nickname, Battlehaft scrubbed her face with her hands, a gesture she'd apparently picked up working with Human security professionals, "Sparring for Lorwardians is what you Humans call..." She glanced at the short, almost square Lorwardian to her right, "What was it they call it, Axebreakr? Three-quarter contact?"
"Yes, Milady," Axebreakr said with a low, soft voice, "I think you are correct; what Lady Blue seeks is full combat simulation, what they would call full contact fighting."
"Yes!" Shego agreed, barely resisting the urge to, again, correct them in the use of Lady Blue. She'd been annoyed when they'd foisted the nickname on her back on Earth. It was better than Battleflame, the other name a few had whispered since she'd dropped Warfalcon, the security detail's second in command and apparently Warhok's uncle, with a series of flaming punches. She had finally decided that it fit, considering how things had progressed out here with Stopp-... She closed her eyes and shook her head, forcing her mind off of that particular tangent through force of will. That mental tangent was just what she'd hoped to avoid thinking about when she'd suggested the sparring match. "That's exactly what I meant..."
"Lady Blue," Battlehaft drew out the name slightly, "We... Can do so, if you so desire, but it would have to be known to our commander that is exactly what you wish."
"And why's that?" Shego demanded with an annoyed grimace.
"If you were to be hurt from a full combat simulation, and it was only known you wanted to spar with us, it might incur the wrath of your Battlemate… Or the High Ambassador." Warbeak, one of the younger, more athletic of the group said with certainty. When Shego, who had briefly considered testing alien waters with the woman - she was very attractive, even by human standards - looked at her in confusion, she expanded her statement, "That would be something to avoid, as I am sure you understand."
"I doubt Stoppable would be too bothered." Shego scoffed. "I mean, he knows I like to fight, right? And besides, you guys're barely getting my blood pumping right now. I mean, Kimmie hits harder than you guys when she's having a bad day!" She barely resisted the urge to laugh at the insult her comment seemed to generate among her sparring opponents. Instead, she raised a challenging eyebrow at them, "It's true; Beanstalk there got me good with that knee, but Kimmie's hit me a lot harder with kicks and elbows. And while strong and fast, Axey there couldn't even land one hit on me!"
"Were you using your skills as if this were a full combat simulation, Lady Blue?" the youngest of the Lorwardians in the squad asked in an almost pouty tone of voice. She had yet to earn a Battlename, and was called by her Birthname, Roxnaya.
"Nah," Shego rolled her eyes, "I was going just a little above you guys, hoping to goad you into fighting harder." She shrugged as the youth's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't realize you guys were holding back 'cause of some honor thing... I mean, you guys're supposed to be some of the best, and I've sparred harder back on earth, and compared to Warmonga? She pushed me every bit as hard as Kimmie ever did." She shrugged again, then raised an eyebrow as the Lorwardians glanced askance at each other, "What?"
"Lady Blue," Warfist, the eldest of the squad and its second-in-command, his eyes focused on her intently, "Lady Warmonga, before her injuries at the Thirteen Moons of Jingo, was one of our best single warriors. She taught all of us aside from Roxnaya, who instead learned the arts from her father, the Emperor's personal armsman, who is the best at war arts among Lorwardians." He let that sink in for a moment before adding, "And Lady Warmonga had tied him twice and lost once in the Imperial Games hand-to-hand competitions."
"Then why was she so..." Shego bit her tongue on the words 'brain dead'. While the comment was a common, mild insult on Earth, it could be easily misinterpreted by the often direct minded Lorwardians. And why cause an interstellar incident by insulting someone who was still revered by many Lorwardians and even other species? After a moment, she sighed and went with friendlier term, "Loopy? She seemed..."
"As Warfist said, Lady Blue, she was injured retaking the Thirteen Moons of Jingo." Hedpoundr, the largest of the group, spoke up, his voice a high tenor that still made a bubble of laughter sit just under Shego's breast. After all, the man's voice was not in keeping with his physical appearance at all! "The injury was what you humans call a traumatic brain injury. It made her vulnerable to Warhok's manipulation. As she was counted among the Emperor's kin, when she demanded to be let out of recovery, they did so."
"Okay..." Shego grunted, twisting her lips in a grimace, "So I have to brush up on Lorwardian history if I'm going to be connected with Stoppable like I am."
"It may be a good idea." Battlehaft sniggered, then stretched, "I shall go speak to Commander Bloodwulf and inform him of your intent to 'spar' more seriously with us." The use of air-quotes was one that the woman had learned from Shego, and the pale woman barely repressed the urge to snicker at it.
"Lady Blue?" Roxnaya asked in confusion, "Why do you wish to spar us? Why not spar your Battlemate?"
"Well, Roxy..." Shego sighed, falling into a t'ai chi ch'uan form to keep her blood flowing and her muscles from cramping, "We're still... Feeling things out... Between us, I mean."
"You two seem to have things well in hand?" Roxnaya persisted, drawing Shego up short.
"That is not all she has well in hand, I bet..." Warbeak muttered under her voice, obviously not intending for Shego to hear the comment if the mild note of jealousy in her tone was any indication.
Under normal circumstances, Shego might've reacted quite poorly, especially considering her tumultuous emotions. Somehow, though, the note of jealousy, and the curiosity as to whether it was directed at Stoppable or Shego herself, kept the superpowered mercenary from exploding. She was relatively calm, even, as she was able to keep her barely audible when she counted to ten in four languages, including Lorwardian.
Calming enough to keep her cool even without the counting, Shego continued her form as if she hadn't stopped, which in turned managed to drown out both the laughter from Warbeak's comrades. Any further comments from the aliens were kept to themselves, though she was sure they'd continue the discussions later. She had other things to worry about, but let her mind wander. She hoped doing so would allow her to purge the emotions, at least for a short while. I'm not falling for the buffoon like I did... She tried to cut the thought off viciously, but it had already spread into her mind, The sex was because he was the only other human around! All this Lady Blue crap was just for the money and power, like with Smarty!
The self-directed argument was hollow, even to her. Part of her wanted to laugh aloud, but didn't want to give the goons the satisfaction of giving her something amusing to laugh at. Besides, she'd pay them back when Battlehaft returned with 'permission' to up the ante...
RSRSRSRS
Shego snapped out of her reverie just in time for two size thirteen shoes to impact squarely against her breadbasket, sending her flying backwards almost five meters. She barely caught herself from taking a tumble, but her recovery was, at best, graceless. She glared at her opponent as she sucked in breath against her stunned diaphragm's protests, choking out, "Ron, what the hell?"
"What's the matter, Shego?" Ron Stoppable asked, smirking at her in a very familiar fashion, "Not paying attention to your opponent?"
"Argh!" Shego growled, scowling at the blond with rage and annoyance swimming in her eyes. Without warning, she crossed her hands in front of her, eight spikes of highly concentrated plasma streaking out in a vertical X pattern in front of her. It was a new trick she'd perfected while practicing with the surprisingly capable Monkey Master, the plasma concentrated into a nearly pure kinetic charge. She waited until Ron jumped forward and up, then followed the first stream of plasma with one shaped like a cross, concentrating most of the charges in the area he would be jumping through.
Much to her frustration, he brought up a mystical shield, blocking the six bolts in his path. She lurched forward when she realized his forward progress had been halted, plasma wreathed hands slashing in a fast, precise manner. Her face pinched in irritation as his defenses became more and more unlikely and yet more effective in stopping her assault. She increased her speed and began to move forward, one foot lifting and quickly setting down slightly closer to him. Anyone watching would have thought she'd created a shield of her plasma in front of her and that was what she was using to try and drive him back. She knew better, though; he was giving ground in hopes she overstepped, leaving her open for a sweep or takedown.
Her footwork, however, remained precise, giving him no openings. When the pale woman noticed Ron was finally moving backwards more, a clear attempt to draw her out, she brought a leg up as if preparing to move forward once again. Instead of stepping down, she twisted her body to her left, drawing the foot up slightly and out to her right. When the foot was properly 'chambered', she then launched it forward and around, crossing her midsection and up. Thinking it was a sidekick, which the chambered foot resembled, he brought his right arm up to redirect the kick over his head.
"Eugh!" Shego barked, the kiyup - the Korean version of the Japanese martial art's kiai - startled him into freezing briefly. Her foot swept up around his blocking right arm to tag him in the right temporal section of his head. The kick was called a high twisting kick, which she'd learned when she was barely eight years old in her first martial art, Taekwon-do. While awkward, and usually not the most applicable kick in combat, it still had occasions in which it would work.
This was one such case as it struck true, knocking Ron off balance enough that when she dropped her leg, she was able to tag him with an elbow to the gut. He folded over the blow and seemed to roll awkwardly over it, and she heard his body strike the mat. She lifted her right leg again, spinning around and tensing to drop it down in an axe kick down on his gut as a followup to the elbow, but felt a light pinch, more in keeping with a caress, to her right buttock. Did he just...
She paused just long enough that he was able to roll to her left, resulting in her kick striking the thin mat covering the floor. Her eyes widened as if to deny what he'd just done, but the devious grin on his face, and the sensation of another caressing pinch to the opposite buttock, confirmed with a follow-up wink, told her he had, indeed, goosed her. Twice!
"Stoppable! I thought you were done with being the distraction?!" she grit out, jumping up and lashing downwards with both feet towards his face. Her strike missed as the monkey master giggled and rolled into a tuck that ended up with him behind her. She immediately lashed out was a backwards elbow, but he'd already slipped into her range and snaked both arms around her chest, his hands crossing each other and reaching up under her still loose top, his thumbs and forefingers tweaking her bare nipples. While it was only mildly painful to her-in fact, if they'd have been in the bedroom, it would have been quite arousing, not to mention pleasurable-it frustrated her all the more. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"Nothin'?" he asked innocently. Her anger peaked and she reached up to grab his hands, managing to get ahold of his right hand as he snaked it out of her top. Sliding her fingers to precise points on his hand, she tried to lock the wrist, which managed to swing him around in front of her. She was putting some force into an attempt to force his hand into a wristlock, but his muscles were fighting with near parity to hers, and his own power was keeping the heat of her plasmic fires at bay. He merely raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what's wrong with being your own distraction?" Shego glared at him with an intensity that matched her annoyance from back when he was still in Team Possible. Smirking, he quipped, "What're ya gonna do, Hot Hands?"
"Destroy you, Buffoon!" she half-screamed, dragging him closer to her without warning and slamming her forehead into his nose. His eyes teared up and closed in automatic response to the pain of the strike, and she used his distraction to slam a double palm strike into his chest. He managed to bring up a mystic barrier again, which she knew would happen. Their powers coruscated in a brilliant teal flash throughout the room, and while his powers protected him from the force of her blow, Ron still flew backwards almost eight meters. The distance, combined with the force, ended with him slamming the back of his head into a Lorwardian heavy bag, sending it swinging.
Shego started to laugh at the stunned look on his face as he drooped, falling to his knees, but the expression of mirth died stillborn as the heavy bag struck the ceiling and came swinging back. The bag was similar to Earth's heavy bags, but had a heavy duty composite frame leaving only specific areas open for striking, in fitting with Lorwardian military martial arts. That very same composite covered the bottom curve of the bag, which slammed into the back of Ron's head firmly, knocking him flat on his face with a defeated groan.
"Ronnie!" Shego gasped, dashing over to kneel beside him and pull him from under the flailing punching bag. She cursed herself mentally at using the nickname; aside from a few passion filled moments, she hadn't used it with him save for recent cringe-worthy moments, and always blew it off afterwards. She tried to blow it off, at least to herself, but found that she couldn't. "C'mon, Sport, you've had worse..."
"Yeah," Ron groaned in agreement, "But I don't usually taste blood in my mouth without any actual blood."
"Concussion," Shego concluded, sitting back on her rump and grimacing guiltily. "Sorry..."
"Hey, 's alright." He reached up and felt the back of his head, sighing in relief when he brought his hand around in front of him and saw the lack of blood on his fingertips. "See, just a little bump on my thick head!" Ron smiled as he held his fingers up so she could inspect them, the cute expression making nervous butterflies dance in her stomach. She tried to keep the worried smile she returned to him off her face, but didn't succeed, making the blond cock his head slightly, "So what's up? You've been off all morning, and you don't normally blow up like that when I mess with ya during sparring."
"You don't normally do those kinds of things while sparring." Shego griped back, hating the somewhat whiney tone in her voice.
"Eh, seemed like the thing to do at the time. You were getting all 'grr, argh', so I tried to get you to loosen up, y'know?" Ron chuckled, wincing slightly before rolling, then sitting up and back on his rear end. Pulling his legs up into a lotus position, he regarded her semi-seriously, "Guess I picked the wrong day to act up, righ-..."
"No!" Shego countered, then flushed slightly, looking away from him, "No, it's not that..."
"What is it, Sheegs?" Ron asked gently, earning a huff from the older woman.
"Don't call me that," she demanded, but without much heat.
The blond blinked and tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, are you upset about something I did last night?" Ron prodded further, "This morning? Oh no, don't tell me I forgot your birthda-"
"No, dammit!" she half-grunted, her many frustrations and repressed feelings spiking again. She shook her head, staring down at the floor in front of her. Her breath hitched slightly when she tried to explain it, fear closing her throat, "No, it... It's... It's just..."
"Shego, if there was something I did, or something I said… I mean, we're together like the Three Amigos, but closer than that, right? I need to know what I did so I can fix it!" Ron begged, driving the guilt she'd felt all morning deeper with the concern in his tone.
"I messed up, Ronnie..." she forced out against her better judgment, again using the nickname she was terrified to use, the fear of what it meant almost as deep as her guilt.
"Well, maybe when you got distracted there?" Ron countered, his tone confused, though Shego could swear it sounded like he was looking for something to deflect her self-directed words, "I mean, I'm the one that caught that double palm strike, an-..."
"No, I did..." she interrupted quietly, her voice oddly thick. Ron's head drooped as she ignored his attempt to distract her, staring at the ground between his crossed legs, "Here, with you, back on Earth with..." She swallowed against the dryness of her throat, closing her eyes tightly, "I... Messed up..."
"How?" Ron asked, and Shego opened her eyes to look at him. She saw his concern, felt her face scrunching up and her vision blurring as, to her vexation, her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't see his face, but it was easy to picture surprise or even shock as he said, "Shego? Are you-"
"Zip it!" she screeched angrily. She shoved herself to her feet and stalked a few paces away, her hands lighting up involuntarily.
"Shego, please?" Ron pushed, drawing a strangled hiss from the pale woman. "Talk to me?"
She felt her anger boiling, and wanted to scream, but didn't dare. His tone was too understanding, too patient and if she said something, anything, about what she felt, he'd want to talk about it! To resolve it, and she couldn't risk that, not again. Even so, that very understanding and patience made her want to speak, as if to spite her long, hard won wall of prickly indifference and her own determination to suffer in silence. Unfortunately for her wishes, he'd been around aggressive women all his life and had a knack for finding just which buttons to push; not usually with words, but his expressions, tone and, sometimes, his teasing. It seemed to work wonders on dropping the aggression levels in people like Kimmie. To her chagrin, it worked on her, as well. "I just... I don't want to see you hurting like this."
For Shego, his words were like opening the release valve on a pressure cooker, and her words came spilling out like clouds of steam, "I screwed up with Drakken. He… He didn't deserve me ditching him, let alone at the freaking altar!" She swallowed audibly and her breath, to her shame, was shaking with emotion. But her control was loosened like the reins of a horse and she went on, almost stumbling over her words in the effort to speak, "He spent so much time, preparing and... And planning that, that silly, big, old-fashioned wedding, while... While I spent it not knowing if I cared all that much or if I was just going along because I had nothing better to do, or… Or if..."
She brought her hands up to stare at them, or more specifically, where an engagement ring once encircled her finger. As if to take the image from her mind, she flung her hands out, her voice less angry and more sorrowful, "I...I loved him, okay? I get that now. But... But I... I was so scared." She paused, as if trying not to say more. Finally, though, the pressure in her chest was painful and she snarled in disgust. "Scared! Me! Of, of ending up like some waddling mother to a bunch of whining kids!"
"Shego, it's oka-"
"No, dammit!" Shego shrieked, "It's not okay!" Her hands flew downwards, launching two balls of plasma straight down at her feet. The mat and concrete analogue where she stood exploded with the force of her anger, flying in all directions and forcing Ron to duck as a large chunk flew towards his head. Her hair was mussed from the backblast and studded with bits of the floor, her face wrenched into a furious scowl as she breathed in and out. After several long, tense seconds, she finally managed to choke out, "It's not okay..."
That was all she managed to say before choking out an abrupt, body-wracking sob...
Author's Notes
Heya kids. Well, kgs and I kinda got to talking about the set-up for A Strange Feeling. The universe and all that. Then I started trying (and failing) to write a good Rongo fic as a companion. I asked him for help, he said sure, and this resulted. ...as did a few other things. We'll get them posted once we finish nitpicking them, but for now enjoy this first chapter of another two-parter. More to come for this little universe later, so if you're interested, keep an eye out for the rest! Or set up an alert, as you see fit.