"How did you ever get the title of 'super-genius'?" Shego asked lazily. As usual, she sat back in a rolling chair, filing her nails. Drakken was bending low over a wide metal table, covered in various instruments, bottles, beakers, tubes, and bubbling liquids. A very sharp, acrid smell filled Dr. Drakken's newest lair.
"Shego! Be polite!" Drakken snapped, slipping and sliding in a puddle of bright yellow-green, bubbling liquid and broken glass.
"I'll be polite when you learn the difference between polymethylpentene and dolphins."
"Shut up!" he roared, as another tube slipped from his pale blue fingers. "I KNOW what a dolphin is! It's a fish… er, with a hole in its head…"
"Ri-i-i-ght." Shego rolled her eyes, spinning around in her chair. She stopped, facing the doorway.
"Cupcake!" a high voice sang. Trotting around the corner was a large woman in a pink ski jacket. Her short black hair had a new large pin in it, of an otter with little wings. When she opened her mouth wide- which she did often- you could see the gap between her two front teeth. Dr Drakken flinched slightly as she trotted in, shoving a few beakers and bottles to the side and making way for a large tray of chocolate chip cookies. The bottles tinkled to the ground, although only one broke.
"Er, Amy, er, wouldn't it be better to… you know, drop the cookies? They ruin the evil mood in here."
"Mood? But deary, it's cookies!"
"Come on, Dr D, at least it doesn't come with, like, heart shaped chips." To which DNAmy shot a nasty glance at Shego and handed Dr D a cookie. Drakken glanced down at the cookie, and its black heart-shaped chocolate chips. Shego saw the stunned look on Drakken's face and came over to inspect the cookie, snickering and raising her eyebrows when she saw the hearts.
"Actually these aren't that bad, Shego, have one." Drakken smirked bravely, shoving the tray into Shego's hands. This was, indeed, a feat to brag about, humiliating Shego.
"You'll have to kill me first." Shego snapped. Her hand glowed green and the tray melted. The cookies on it crumbled to the ground as a fine, black, sugary dust. Wiping her hands together, she trotted back to her chair.
"Now Shego, deary…"
"Shut up, DNAmy. Can't you see I'm busy?" Even as the words came out of her mouth, Shego realized it was a horrible comeback. 'Whatever.' She thought. 'I don't have the time to make up five star retorts, anyways.'
She tilted back in her chair, propping her feet up on the enormous super-computer. 'What, seriously, is the point of having a ninety-two inch screen and no cable?' she wondered. In front of her, Drakken was persuading DNAmy to stay and help him with his latest project, instead of going and making more cookies. "You can make cookies later, Amy." He said, flinching when he said not DNAmy but Amy.
"Well, I don't know, I could just…"
"I need your help with this project… sweetie." Dr Drakken urged, making a terrible grimace as he appeared delighted with DNAmy. "Now just tell me which doohicky to attach to each thingamagig."
"Ohoh!" DNAmy beamed, hugging the life out of him. "I'll be right back. I'll just need my lab coat, goggles, atomic parter, sepatope…"
"Congrats, Dr D. You just scored with the woman who has the most Cuddle Buddies of the Year award." Shego said sarcastically.
"Shut up Shego, it's not my choice!" Dr Drakken snapped, pricking his finger on a needle, just as DNAmy came in. Drakken's face paled as a few drops of blood landed on the hypodermic table. "Oh Drakky poo, you're bleeding!" DNAmy flung the large metal tray she was holding to the ground nd dashed out of the room. She came back with a large box of bandaids. Each one had a different cuddle buddy on it. Drakken paled as she plastered on bandaids.
After she had wiped up the few drops of blood, Drakken resumed his pale blue composure and business like stance. He plopped the tray on the table. "Now what?" he asked simply. DNAmy drew out a long, thin hypodermic needle. Dr Drakken stared. "Is that…"
"Don't worry Drakky-poo, it won't hurt iher/i a bit! She has got superpowers!" She chirped happily. Every bit of color drained from Doctor Drew Lipsky's face. "It better not, because I'm dead if it is…"
"Shego! Come over here!"
"What am I doing?" Shego asked, walking up.
"Whatever DNAmy wants you to!" Drakken begged.
"And what is that?"
"I just need a little blood, Shego deary!" DNAmy gasped.
"You aren't making clones of me, are you? It's in my contract…" Shego demanded.
"No, no, just a little blood.
"No WAY. It's in my contract- you can't have any of my DNA, hair samples, fingernail clippings, blood, I don't care. NO."
"Shego, please… We can stop Kim Possible… It's not… er, clones…" Dr. Drakken begged, clasping his hands together. "…Exactly..." he murmured under his breath.
"Oh dear, but we can't do this without it… Here- Otterfly!" DNAmy called. Two large otters with wings flew in, grabbed Shego, and slammed her down on a large operating table. "DR D!" Shego roared angrily. DNAmy trotted over. "Don't worry deary, you'll be just fine!" she chirped merrily, slamming a large needle into Shego's arm. Shego's hands lit up, but cuffs slid over them, and the plasma did nothing. "DRAKKEN YOU ARE DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?" Shego roared. "WHAT THE F-!"
"Ah, Shego, er, nothing to worry about… I hope." Dr Drakken said nervously, turning and rubbing his hands together.
"Drakken, I can't tell you if this will work…" DNAmy trailed off.
"Right, but you can…?" Drakken asked, stayed turned.
"Yes, yes." DNAmy said impatiently, losing her cheery profile, and becoming serious. She pulled a rack of tubes, bottles, beakers, and anything else that could hold something, and attached it the the needle in Shego's arm. The blood trickling into the tube was oddly greenish in the light of the waning moon. When DNAmy shut the curtains, it seemed to glow a bit. DNAmy smiled. "It will be a few hours." She trotted to the door and turned. "Come on, Drakky, let's make more cookies!"
Shego was left alone in the dark room, thinking. Her blood slowly dripped through the tubes. 'Since when does DNAmy like Drakken again?' she wondered thoughtfully. 'Maybe Monkey Fist dumped her.'
Kim and Ron were hanging out at the Bueno Nacho. For the 'occasion', Kim had worn her a tight skirt and top. It was the anniversary of the first time she defeated Shego.
"Wade said something's up!" Kim sighed and turned, irritated that she had to get ALL of her news from Ron since she had broken her kimmunicator. Including whenever something was up.
"He says some Chem-a-tool-mich-i-cal 200 something-or-oother was stolen!"
"What?"
"A chem-too-ichi-call-300…"
"Just gimme the thing, Ron." Kim yanked the phone out of his hand. Wade was on screen. "Hey, Kim." He said cheerfully. "The Chemical Modifier-Replicator version200.4 was stolen, down at the rocket lab…"
"Is everyone all right?" Kim demanded, a note of panic creeping into her normally calm voice. She was already dashing towards her brand new car.
"I dunno, let me check, Kim, before you do anything too-" Ron (with Rufus on his shoulder) leapt into the car after Kim as she swerved dangerously out of Bueno Nacho's parking lot.
"-rash." Wade ended heavily as he watched Kim Possible swerve in and out of traffic, helpless to stop her. Kim Possible never seemed scared or nervous… except when there was the possibility that one of her family members was in danger.
"Kim, slow dooooooooooown!" Ron yelled as Kim Possible swerved to avoid a small school bus. "KP, you're dad's probably fine…!"
"PROBABLY?" Kim almost yelled. "He could be… DEAD! INJURED!"
"I dunno much but I'm pretty sure that injured is higher on the scale then death." Ron said slowly, clinging to Rufus calmly as the mole rat almost flew out the window.
"Probably is not good enough!" Kim screamed as she veered around a Lay's Potato Chip truck.
"Boy Kim's edgy today." Wade said to Ron over the kimmunicator's screen. "Then again she did stay up late last night fighting Monkey Fist in Alaska."
"We're here!" Kim leapt out of the convertible. "Dad!"
"It's all right, Kimmie-cub." Dr Possible was rubbing his back with one hand. The other had a large gauze bandage around it. "Then again, the trouble's not over." he pointed to the building with his unbandaged hand. An entire side of the building seemed to have fallen, but Dr Possible was pointing over the stable part. A deep blue helicopter could just be seen over the top of the building.
"Drakken." Kim said stiffly.
"I could have told you that with my eyes closed, KP. Well actually not because…" Ron trailed off as Kim ran into the stable half of the building that hadn't fallen. "Wai' up!" Rufus called.
"Drakken! What are you doing here?" Kim cried, leaping into the cement courtyard in the center of the buildings.
"Stealing some Chemical-thingy, duh!" Shego replied, leaping down next to her, hands lit. The two women began fighting.
Ron stood off to the side, on edge, until Rufus poked him in the shoulder. Understanding, Ron clambered up the fire escape to be nearer the helicopter. Over the wind her heard Dr Drakken shout into the back of the large copter, "Get it ready now!" he turned down to Shego. "Shego keep that dratted Kim Possible busy!"
"Dr D up sumthin!" Rufus chirped, pointing. Ron grabbed onto the copter, but Drakken noticed. "Not this time, Rupe… no, that's not it…"
"Ron Stoppable." Ron said helpfully. Drakken smiled ruefully. "You do-gooders have such hard to remember names." He brought his black-booted foot down fully force on Ron's skinny fingers. The blonde boy fell down, slamming into the rusty fire escape below. The impact almost knocked Ron out. Rufus jumped out of his pocket "Eii eii! Rah!" The mole rat shook Ron's shirt. "Hey… Rufus…" Rufus cheered, but in letting go of his best friend, Ron fell back against the metal again. Now he was out cold, and Rufus himself was left on the cold, slightly rusting metal with his master and friend, while another friend fought for her life below him. Rufus shivered. "Rah… Ki'…"
Down below, Kim was having a hard time. Shego seemed grumpier than usual today, and the biting cold snow hit Kim's face like needles. Furthermore, she had forgotten her jacket and stayed out late the night before.
Shego, however, had had a wonderful night's sleep. The needle-like cold melted in the presence of her plasma-heated hands. She was also angry at Kim for being there. Drakken's plans were always perfect until Kim Possible came into the picture!
Every bit of Shego's being wanted to kill Kim Possible, torture her, turn her into a being that couldn't 'Possibly' do anything.
But even in the dark heart of Shego, the blackness that made her Shego the Villainess and not Shego the Hero, there was a conscience. Even through the layers of her evil, beastly, DNA-distorted heart, Shego had a conscience telling her that killing her arch-enemy was a bad thing. That it would lead to confusion, more deaths. Especially the death of Shego herself. She understood that in killing Kim Possible, every person on Earth, whether old elderly woman, young child, president or potter, would be trying as hard as they could to kill her. The bounty on her head would be higher than the combined debts of Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
So Shego did not kill Kim Possible. Instead she weakened her, hurting her badly both physically and mentally. Shego had a bounty on her head for crimes like stealing, but not such a horrible crime like murder.
"Want more, princess?" her plasma-coated hands flared. She slammed her fist at Kim's face to find it wasn't there. There was a smell of burning rubber as Shego wrenched her hand away from the blackened building. "Bring it on!" Kim yelled.
Shego flares her hands. They came like missiles towards Kim's face. "I'm tired of this!" Shego screeched. She grabbed Kim's hair. The teenage cheerleader slash hero yelled. Her long red hair was burning with green flames. It smothered quickly, but the smell of burnt hair hung in the air. Kim grabbed a long black pole, swinging it at Shego. 'I swear Shego's never tried to kill me…!' Kim thought.
Shego did a back flip, leaping off a crumbled wall towards Kim. Kim dove sideways, until Shego grabbed the cheerleaders foot. Kim was pulled back, her head slamming into the crumbled remains of the Space Station. She could feel sticky blood clinging to her hair. Shego grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground. "Not this time, Kimmie."
Ron was still out cold on the rusty fire escape. Rufus leapt up, shaking the sidekicks head, pulling open his eyelids, even gently nipping him. Ron's lips were turning blue. Dr. Drakken stood high above them, leaning out of his helicopter. He was holding a ray-like gun, aiming it at Ron. Rufus bit down hard on Ron's nose. One of Rufus' arms was in pain, bent oddly.
The sidekick's eyes fluttered a bit. Rufus waved at him. Ron lifted his head. Rufus lifted his good arm and pointed to Drakken. Ron's eyes opened wide. He lifted himself up. Rufus helped pull him up, then leapt inside his pocket. Ron shivered, and then rolled sideways. Drakken cocked his ray-gun, aiming it at Kim's sidekick. Ron grabbed Rufus, swung himself onto the ladder. The rusted metal creaked under his weight.
Down below them, Shego had hold of Kim's ankle. Kim did a flip, meaning to knock Shego off balance, but the older woman was to smart. Kim landed awkwardly, and Shego flung a ball of plasma at her head. It missed, but hit Kim's arm. Kim
Kim yelled out in pain. She launched herself at Kim, hitting her with several furious smacks.
Ron turned, hearing Kim yell, and the rusted bars turned with him. The bars ripped clear through. Ron fell. He groped the air. Rufus clung to him. Below, Kim was on top of Shego. She heard a shout and looked up. Ron was about twenty feet above her, a few feet to the right. Kim dove towards the spot, and tried to stand to catch him in her arms. But Shego dove towards her at the last second.
The hero was thrown sideways. The villainess rolled over her, standing and pinning her with her foot. Behind her, Ron slammed into the ground. Shego pushed Kim up against the wall. A tear dripped down the-girl-who-could-do-anything-possible's face. Shego pushed her down, "Next time, pumpkin." she said.
Kim stumbled to the ground next to Ron. Rufus was crying, too. Kim covered her face with her hands.
"Mark my words, you'll be better off without him!" Shego called, grasping the ladder that had come down from Drakken's ship. It slowly withdrew. Drakken was standing there, staring. He turned, and went back inside the ship.
To Kim, everything had been going in slow motion since Ron had fallen. She stood, quietly. Shego's back was turned. Her head was encircled with something white. It was snow. It was snowing, she noted. The tiny snowflakes floated onto Kim's arms and in her hair. The burns on her arms felt worse at every snowflake. There was nothing going through Kim's mind. She was blank. She had no idea how to react. She knew death meant crying, sadness, and mourning. Was he even dead? It was a high chance, but she hadn't checked his pulse. Falling four stories would probably kill someone. But Kim didn't turn. Even if he was alive, he would be changed to her. She wouldn't want him on missions, and neither would his parents. Why was this mission different from the rest? Her hand brushed her pocket; she remembered the communicator. She reached in… but all she found were crushed remains, as black as the rest of her clothes now were.
Kim turned her head, biting her lip, holding back another few tears. They snuck through anyways. The crumbled, charred communicator dropped from her hand. Shego, about a third of the way up the ladder, turned back, hearing it. Kim looked at her, eyes wide, tearful. This was Shego's fault, Drakken's fault, everyone's fault. Kim dove towards the rope ladder. Shego slipped, then turned. Her eyes were angry, furious. She lit up both hands, and put them together for a stronger blast. Kim saw it all in slow motion: Shego, hands lit. Dr. Drakken, high above her, pulling a lever (why was it always some sort of giant lever or button?). DNAmy, giggling like a little girl who's just been promised sweets. A giant ray-like gun protruding from the bottom of the helicopter- pointed at her.
Shego brought her hands back. The gun on the ship glowed. Drakken laughed like a lunatic. DNAmy giggled. Kim screamed in fury, anger, blind with rage.
The gun seemed to explode. The helicopter flew up a few feet. A tiny projectile was flying towards her… Kim was flying through the air, leaping on Shego… Shego went up the ladder, still facing Kim, a few feet. She pushed her hands forward. The ball of plasma flew towards Kim, as well as the projectile. Kim's mind didn't register that her demise may be just a few feet away…
Chapter 2
The plasma was a few inches off, as the ship had jerked and Shego had almost lost her balance. The large ball of glowing plasma hit the projectile. The projectile was like a small flaming, glowing meteorite now. Shego was vaguely hypnotized staring at it. It reminded her of the rainbow comet that had given her her powers. She had the vague urge to reach for it, pull it back. But it was too easy to let it go. Shego shook herself. The helicopter continued pulling her up.
Kim reached for Shego, reached for the person that had done so much to her. Instead, she got the projectile-thing that the helicopter had shot out. Time was still in slow motion: She felt the snowflakes landing on her head, heard the whirring of the copter's blades, smelled burnt hair, burnt rubber, burnt self.
And finally Kim's mind caught up with the moment.
She twisted in midair. The projectile was faster. Living up to it's meteorite name, the thing –Kim could see the definition of some sort of needle inside the plasma- slammed into her stomach. Kim yelled out. She was thrown back, towards a crumbling wall. She grabbed at it… only to find it wasn't there. Time was in slow motion again. She touched her stomach, trying to pull out the needle. She was flying again… only this time she was flying backwards. It was same as before: smell of burnt self, burnt hair, burnt rubber. Feel the stinging snowflakes. Hear the helicopter's blades. The air whooshed past her. When would this end? This endless vortex of air? Kim's thoughts faded away again. At last, she hit a crumbled wall. The pain was severe, all over. Her head struck a hard piece of concrete. She slumped to the ground.
Kim Possible faded in and out of consciousness. She tried to open her eyes. She saw Ron, either dead or unconscious, Shego climbing into the ship… the giant gun. She held on to consciousness. But it pulled away. The world before her swam. The colors mixed. Everything was a brown-gray blur. She lifted her head once more, and then Kim Possible, the cheerleader, hero, sister, daughter, best friend, and the friend of many, slumped over.
Shego, a great villainess, stared down at the scene. Ron lay near one wall, Kim near another. The only sign of life was Rufus, who had lost all hope. Drakken aimed his ray-gun at several of the wall, and they tumbled down. Soon, Shego could just see Kim, and Rufus, trying to clear the rubble off his friend.
Shego did not know why she felt a need to comfort the little guy. As they flew mockingly over the group of scientists, who included Kim's father, Dr. Possible, she had the strange urge to comfort him, too. Kim wasn't dead, was she? She was only hurt, right? Shego looked at the man's worried face. Drakken shot down another wall. Shego watched it crumble, and with it Dr. Possible's face. A woman with short red hair, almost identical to Kim's, jumped out of a car and ran into his arms. Shego watched them with fascination. But both had an expression that reminded her of Kim. It was the 'Anything's possible for a Possible' face. The phrase floated through Shego's mind. She looked back at them. The couple was small in the distance now. The husband was dragging another scientist towards the remains of the building. The other Dr. Possible was yelling.
Shego looked away. What had happened? She knew she had promised that she would never kill anyone. But Ron wasn't her fault… and Kim couldn't be dead… her face paled, or at least became whiter than usual. They were a family. Were they going to be like her family? A family torn apart by a meteor? The meteor that had hit Kim was just a plasma-coated needle. But it had power. It had slammed the amazing Kim Possible into a crumbling wall.
Shego remembered her family when she was young, then… the villainess hardened. "No. Not again." she said softly. She did not want to remember.
Shego turned towards the crumbled building. She saw the faint shapes. The scientists, scattered like ants over the rubble, ambulances flashing, carrying people. Shego saw bulldozers, clearing rubble. Two young boys, twins in fact, stood huddled next to each other in the snow. Shego sighed, turning. She walked to the back of the large helicopter and sat. She pulled her headphones over her ears and listened to music, instead of thinking about Kim Possible and her possibly broken family.
Shego lay down on her dark bed. She listened to music for a while. Then she walked into the open part of the lair. She sat in her rolling chair, distracted. What if Kim was dead? Who would she fight? Would she have to fight GJ agents? Shego sighed.
"So, Drakky, would you say the plan was a success?" DNAmy beamed.
"NO." Drakken snapped. "Shego ruined it! At the rate that needle was traveling, it was probably disintegrated by the time it hit Kim Possible!"
"Sooo-RY." Shego snapped. "She was trying to fight! She asked for it."
"Hmph. And now we need to make a new formula." Drakken scowled. "How about this: YOU stop bothering US."
"Ug, FINE." Shego snapped. "Whiner." she muttered as she left.
Kim Possible, patient 120, had been there three days. She had not woken. Her mother was scared. She knew about brains, and if Kim didn't wake up soon, she was likely brain-dead. Dr. Possible was at Kim's side almost 24/7. Now that the Space Center was gone, he had nothing to do.
Ron Stoppable was patient 121. He was in the room next to Kim's, and woke up a few times over the past few days. Rufus stayed at his side secretly.
Only a week later did Kim Possible wake up.
She opened her eyes halfway. Ron Stoppable and her parents were in deep conversation on the other side of the room. "Shhee.." Kim murmured. Everyone turned their heads. Then they rushed over. "How are you feeling?" her mother asked sweetly. Kim opened her mouth. "I'll call the… er, other doctors, Kimmie-cub." her father said.
"Sheee…" Kim shook her head. "Go…"
Suddenly nurses were everywhere. Ron thumped out of the room on his crutches. Dr. Possible, her father this is, followed him. Kim closed her eyes. "Sheego. Gott.. ta.." The nurses looked troubled by her thoughts.
"Hugh, Kimmie-cub. We'll take care of you." her mother soothed.
Kim shook her head, then went back to sleep. The doctors rushed around her, checking their various instruments. Dr. Possible held her daughters pale hand.
"So, Dr. D…"
"WHAT, Shego, WHAT?"
"Is it really needed to make another formula for Kimmie?" Shego questioned.
"YES! Kim Possible will be out of work after this one."
"But we don't even know if Kim's alive." Shego replied softly.
"Kim… Possible… is dead?" Dr. Drakken murmured, staring straight ahead.
"Maybe… anything's possible…" Shego trailed off. "Boy Drew, your mom's gonna have a cow if she is."
"We must find out! Shego, I want you to go to Middleton. Find out everything about her. If she's alive…"
Shego crawled through the vent shafts of the main hospital in Middleton. "Why does he always send me out to do things like this?" she muttered. She slid down a long vent shaft in an office. There were several filing cabinets against one wall, but Shego headed for the computer.
"Let's see what we can get on Kimmie…" Shego muttered. She found out all she needed to know: Kim Possible was alive, in this very hospital. She sighed, and relief washed over her. 'Am I really relieved she's alive?' Shego thought in amazement. She shook the thought off. "Room 120. I should be able to get there when Drakken finishes his project-thing." She heard footsteps echoing down the hall. "Time to go." She muttered. She swung up into the vent shaft. "Bye bye." She said to the person coming in.