A Path Once Crossed…

"Settle down, class," Ms. Shego said as the bell rang; she sat at a desk at the front of the room, facing four rows of tables, with an isle down the center of the room. The first few rows were filled three to a desk, with a few sitting back with those with whom they already seemed familiar. She stood from her desk and smoothed out her skirt before walking over to the chalk board and writing out her name and an equation. "I hope your summer break was enjoyable; my name is Ms. Shego, or just Shego, if you like. This is Engineering 1, Conceptual Design. If this is not the class you're supposed to be taking, then you should probably go." She waited for a moment; nobody stood, and she continued. "Why you would want to take this class is understandable; you get to design any number of odd creations, with a chance at the end of the year to build one of your designs." She cleared her throat and bent down, lifting a large box onto her desk from the floor. She pulled a box cutter from her pocket and cut the corners, the sides falling away to reveal a large cylinder capped off by metal rings and thick plates of glass. "If you're wondering why I am teaching this class, this is a vacuum chamber. I built it in my garage last night out of spare parts I had from a few other projects. Now, personally, I don't care if you introduce yourselves, as in all the time I've been in education, from when I was first in grade school all throughout my college years, and now that I'm a teacher, as well, I've found it to be an exercise in futility; you're all likely going to forget each others names before the end of the day, anyway, unless someone happens to catch your eye for some reason. However, the school tells me that I'm obligated to tell you to stand and introduce yourselves, so we'll start with you." She pointed to the student in the front along the wall of windows to outside. "Name, grade, and whatever else you want to say, if anything; we're a small class, so hopefully this won't take too long."

"My name is Bonnie Rockwaller," the brunette said as she stood. "I'm a freshman this year, and I'm currently vying for a spot on the cheer team." She took her seat, and Ms. Shego pointed to the student seated next to her.

"I'm Brick," he said, standing. The introductions continued through the other dozen or so students.

"Last but not least," Ms. Shego said, pointing to the final student; she sat alone, scribbling in her notebook.

She looked up and, noticing that it was her turn, stood. "My name's Kim Possible," she said without much inflection. "I'm a freshman this year."

"Are you related to Dr. James Possible?" Ms. Shego asked.

"Yeah; he's my dad," Kim replied.

"Well, I'm expecting big things from you, then," Shego replied; Kim leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "Unlike most other classes, there is no syllabus; you are all expected to act like the semi-adults that you are, which means no dickery. Wait, am I allowed to say that? Whatever; I already did. Anyway, just be civil and follow the school rules and we'll be fine. Your grades are based almost entirely on effort, with the exception of the midterm and final. You will receive 10 points every time you are participating in class, which means paying attention and working on your work, not necessarily being part of a discussion; as long as you're paying attention, that's good enough for me. The midterm, 10% of your grade, is an exam over the principles discussed up to that point, while the final, 20% of your grade, is a combination of the principles discussed from the midterm on, which is 50% of the grade for the final, and an application of your ideas, which is the other 50%." She turned around and pointed to the equation she'd earlier written on the board. "Now, 20 bonus points to the first student who can tell me what that equation means, is for, or its name; this means that there is the potential for three of you to be able to skip class twice without it affecting your grade." She looked around the room; most of the students were looking in the backs of their books for the equation, while others were staring blankly at the board. Kim was still staring up at the ceiling. "Kim?"

"Entropy, S, is equal to Boltzmann's Constant, k, multiplied by the logarithm of W, the number of microstates in the macrostate," Kim replied without moving. "It describes the probability of energy loss due to entropy."

Shego stared at Kim in disbelief for a moment. "That's correct," she said, surprised. "How did you know that?"

"My dad taught it to me while he was designing a rocket," Kim replied.

The bell rang. "Oh, my, I forgot we were on half-hour classes today," Shego said. "Alright, I'll see you all tomorrow. Oh, and Kim, can I speak with you?" The class filed out, and Kim stood beside Shego's desk, her head down. "Is everything alright?"

"My friend Ron died over the summer," Kim admitted, holding back the tears. "Taking this class was his idea."

"Ron? Ron Stoppable?" Shego asked. Kim nodded. "I heard about that on the news; I'm sorry."

"Don't waste your sympathy," Kim said bitterly. "It's my fault."

"I'm sure there was nothing you could do," Shego replied, trying to comfort her.

Kim slammed her fists down on the table. "I could have done everything!" she shouted. "I was the one who dragged him to Nicaragua! I was the one who told him to go be a distraction while I shut off the doomsday device! If I hadn't…" She started crying, and Shego took her in her arms.

"There, there," Shego said. "Hey, let's do something to get your mind off of this for a while, ok?"

Kim wiped her tears. "Um, Ms. Shego, how many more of these could you build?" Kim asked, slightly uncomfortable with her request.

"What are you thinking?"

"Thanks, boys," Shego said as the football team finished hooking up the machine which was now taking up the majority of the classroom.

"Glad to help," Mr. Barkin replied. "My football team is always willing to help out."

"You're too kind," Shego said, smiling at him. Mr. Barkin hurried out of the room, his football team following. "That should be everything." She surveyed the room; the tables had been rearranged into a ring spanning almost from wall to wall, atop which sat a giant metal ring, perfectly round. Alternating around each of the two dozen sections of the ring were the vacuum chambers, mounted vertically, and a series of electromagnets, each wired independently. The only sections which were different were the ones pointing to the center of the class; mounted on either side, they were identical to each other, only in mirror image, and while the curve was perfectly formed to the specifications of the others, it had an additional piece, aligned to allow whatever came from it to enter directly into the curve of the ring. Attached to each was a large chamber which looked very much like the vacuum chambers. Each of the vacuum chambers and electromagnets was wired to a large control box at the front of the room, as were the chambers on the ends of the odd pipes, while from the box also led more wires, to every outlet of the room and out the door into classrooms all down the hall. "Shall we?"

"Absolutely," Kim said with a sharp smile on her lips. They walked from the door to the control box. The box was nothing particularly special; there was a hole for a key, two rows of twelve switches, and three odd switches below those. Shego pulled a key from her pocket and slid it into the controls. Turning it, the box lit up. Quickly, she flipped a dozen switches which lined the top of the box, and the vacuum chambers all started up, sucking everything out of the circular tube. "Warming up electromagnets." She flipped the first of the second row of switches. There was a loud pop, and she flipped the second switch. There was another loud pop, and another each time as she went down the line of switches. "Electromagnets primed." She flipped off the first bank of switches, shutting off the vacuum pumps. "Ready for injection. Would you care to do the honors?" Kim held out her hand, preparing to throw the first of the final three switches but stopping just before it. "What's wrong?"

"What if this goes wrong?" Kim asked, scared.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Shego asked, placing her hand on Kim's. Together, they threw the switch. A loud electrical hum filled the room. "Well, nothing has blown up yet." She guided Kim's hand to the second switch. There was another loud hum. "Collector active."

She started to guide Kim's hand to the final switch, but Kim pulled away. "I want to do this one on my own," Kim said. Shego nodded, placing her hand on Kim's shoulder.

Kim's hand hovered above the switch for a moment before she threw it quickly. "Now we wait," she said.

"Now we wait," Shego replied, running her fingers through her hair. "Oh!" She opened her desk and pulled out a cooler. "I brought a snack." She opened it and pulled out a sandwich and a can of soda, which she handed to Kim, who took them. She pulled out another sandwich and can of soda, and opened them. She opened the soda and held it toward Kim. "To science."

"To science," Kim replied, opening her can and holding it out, tapping the tops together.

They quickly took a drink, and Kim laughed. "What is it?" Shego asked.

"I've spent years stopping other peoples' crazy science projects, and now here I am doing one of my own," she said, unwrapping her sandwich. "We've built a particle accelerator in a high school classroom."

"What are you doing?" Shego screamed into her phone as Kim piloted a 20-foot-tall robot through the streets of Washington DC.

"I have to save the world from itself," Kim replied. "I've spent so much time defeating mad scientists, but now I realize that the real threat to mankind comes from our leaders. They lie and cheat and steal and fund the psychos I've been fighting all this time. Their crimes are unforgivable, and now I have to be the one who punishes them for their arrogance and pride."

"You can still stop this, Kim!" Shego screamed. "I can still fix this!"

"How?" Kim snarled as she approached the White House. "What can you do? You just tinker with things, building small projects in your free time out of boredom. It took a high school student to get you to start applying your work. That's pathetic!"

"I'll give you one more warning!" Shego shouted. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

"What can you do?" Kim screamed. "What can you possibly do to me?"

Shego lowered her head and whispered, "God, I don't know if you're there or not, but if you are, forgive me for what I have created." She ran back to her car and pulled a modified rocket launcher from the trunk. She steadied it; it beeped as it locked on the giant robot. She closed her eyes as she fired.

Kim turned around just in time to see a rocket impact on the robot. It stopped dead in its tracks and fell backward, landing inches from the rose garden. Shego ran over and climbed onto it. "Kim!" she screamed. "Kim, how do you open this thing?"

"You don't," Kim coughed over the speaker. "It's sealed air-tight." A slit in the chest opened up, and Shego climbed on top, staring down into the machine; Kim's face, bloodied from hitting her head as the robot fell, was smiling back at her. "The only way out is to have the computer do it. That EMP of yours locked me in. Why do you have an EMP with you, anyway?"

Shego stared at Kim in terror. "No!" she screamed. "There has to be another way!"

"It's all self-contained," Kim said, her voice strained. "The air is processed internally."

"I'm so sorry!" Shego sobbed.

"It's alright, you didn't know," Kim said.

"Oxygen at five percent," the said the voice from within the machine.

"It looks like this is goodbye," Kim said, her smile growing wider. It wasn't a wicked smile or a vengeful smile, but one of genuine happiness. "Hey. Thanks for everything. I had fun." Her eyes closed, but the smile stayed.

Shego screamed, primal and full of rage. She jumped off and ran over to the fence, grabbing a broken piece of the wrought iron and returning with it, using it as a spear on the glass of the small window to try and break through. With each stab she screamed louder, calling Kim's name; the police and spectators who had arrived didn't dare approach. After what seemed to her like forever, the glass broke, allowing air inside. She continued to beat at it until it was clear, at which point she threw the makeshift spear across the yard and reached inside. She checked for a pulse.

Kim was dead.

"Shego, it's not good for you to stay in here working on whatever is it you've been doing for these last two years," Drew said as he walked into her lab. "I can appreciate a dedication to mad science with the best of them, but this is bordering on the insane."

"Go away," Shego replied, bent down into a machine.

"I'm sorry, Shego, but I-" Drew began.

"I said go away!" Shego screamed, standing up and throwing her wrench at him. She took a deep breath. "Tomorrow. I'll take a break tomorrow. You can hold me to it."

Drew backed away slowly. "Ok, Shego," he replied. "I'll be back tomorrow." He turned and walked out.

"Tomorrow we won't even have had this conversation," Shego whispered to herself. She leaned back into the machine and tinkered with it for a few seconds before standing up again. She surveyed her work. It was rather unremarkable from outward appearances; a pair of the same particle accelerators which she and Kim had made for their first project together, one above the other, about eight feet apart, both connected to a large series of tubes and wires leading from another nondescript machine in the form of a large steel box, the machine in which she'd previously been working. She pressed a switch on the wall next to her, and the floor descended, making the bottom of the two rings flush with the floor. When it stopped, she reached inside the large steel box one final time. The pop of the electromagnets and the din of the pumps filled the room, soon followed by the hum of the electron gun. She stepped back and grabbed a pocket watch from the bench beside her. "A chronometric field projector in the form of a pocket watch, capable of controlling this machine across an infinite number of dimensions. With this, I will be able to save Kim." She shoved the watch into her pocket and walked over to her machine. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the center of the rings and disappeared.

Author's Note:

This was written as a request by a friend of mine by the name of Neo the Saiyan Angel. You should go check her stuff out. Like, now, before you forget. At least open up her FFN page and bookmark it so you remember.

"But wait," you say, "what the hell is going on?"

Well, it's simple. This is a Kim Possible x Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica fic, where magic is replaced by mad science. Kim loses Ron, Shego (who started out as a teacher) helps her, and Kim ends up catching the mad science bug. This is all explained better later, though. Yay exposition chapters! /sarcasm

EDIT:

Sorry about that, folks; I completely forgot to make sure that my section separators stayed in place (stupid bastards, you don't remove parts of the document when you process it just because you feel like it!).