Title : Empire

Chapter 1

First one's always the hardest

Quite some time had passed since Kim last battled any villains with dreams of grandeur. The young redhead had single handedly beaten every bad guy, thug and villain that came out of the wood work. Some times with a tiny bit of help from her friends, but even when they weren't around to help, she gave it her all, and still came out the victor. But this is a cautionary tale. Not all antagonists are idiots. The real vile ones usually show up when the competition is long gone. They're the ones that the hero has to look out for. Mainly because they don't use elaborate traps and weapons, well, not all the time. These are the villains that are out for blood.

It was just another day for Kim Possible. She walked confidently through the courtyard of her current College. She smiled and chatted with a few of her new acquaintances. The conversations were filled with idle chatter about physics and whatnot. After a few minutes Kim waved goodbye to her friends and continued walking. She finally reached her car and disarmed the alarm. Kim tossed her books into the back seat and reclined the seat. She let out a sigh and was relieved that her school day was over.

Kim reached into her pocket and pulled out communicator and scrolled through her messages. One message in particular caught her attention. She opened the message, which was labeled "Shego" as the sender, and began to read it. Her eyes moved quickly, reading every line carefully. The message had a phone number pasted into it, wasting no time. Kim clicked on it and called it. The line rang once before a familiar voice answered.

"Kim?" The voice asked.

"Shego?" Kim replied.

"I didn't think you'd actually call me, but before you say anything Kimmy… I know we've had our differences and our fights, but I need your help." Shego pleaded in a stressed voice.

Kim could tell by the tone of Shego's voice that something was terribly wrong, "What's going on?"

"Drakkens dead." Shego replied.

"What?" Kim gasped.

"Kim, they're coming after you… I have to go, they've found me…" Shego could be heard dropping the phone. In the background Kim could hear loud weapons fire and small explosions, shortly before the phone went completely dead.

Kim quickly dialed Wade, hoping that he was available, seeing as it had been some time since she last had a chance to talk to him. The communicator screen flashed a message, simply showing "connecting", until finally Wade appeared.

"Kim!" Wade smiled. "I haven't heard from you in ages." He joked.

"I know, it's been a while…" Kim said, rushing the conversation," ...but I need your help. I just spoke to Shego. I think she needs my help."

"Shego? Are you sure it isn't a trap?" Wade asked.

"I don't think so. I think something bad is going on. She sounded like she was in big trouble. From what she told me… Drakken is dead." Kim frowned.

"What!" Wades eyes opened wide as he looked closer into the screen. "What do you need me to do?" He asked, wasting no time.

"Seeing as how I just spoke to her, can you get me her coordinates?" Kim asked.

"Okay… got her coordinates… She's in California. I'm sending you her exact location right now. Do you need me to arrange transportation?" Wade asked.

"That would be awesome." Kim smiled.

"One last thing… Should I tell Ron?"

For a few seconds Kim remained silent, Ron was a great childhood friend, but he wasn't always the most competent person. "No, Its better that I handle this alone. Don't mention any of this to him. I don't want him to get worried."

"Okay, I won't." Wade promised. "I'll let you know when your transportation is ready." Wade gave a reassuring smile and ended the call.

Kim sat quietly in her car, thinking to herself, wondering if she was doing the right thing. It felt like an eternity since she last played hero and saved the world. After a few minutes she put her seat back up and noticed a rather suspicious looking person standing right in front of her car. The person was wearing a long black trench coat and hat. His face was too hard to see, as he stood with his back to the sun. Kim squinted, trying to get a better look at the person, when finally he raised his head up. The man quickly unbuttoned the trench coat and revealed two concealed guns underneath, both holstered under his arms. Acting quickly, Kim ducked down. The man fired an onslaught into her windshield. Kim held her hands over her head, as glass rained down on her, and her communicator began to beep. She grabbed it and accepted the call, it was Wade.

"Ummmm... is this a bad time?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A little… What's the sitch?" Kim replied as the man continued firing wildly at her car.

"There's a jet waiting for you. I'm sending you the coordinates…. Are you sure you're okay?" Wade asked again.

"Just peachy, thanks Wade, I owe you one. I gotta go now." Kim smiled.

After ending the conversation Kim noticed that the gunfire stopped. Taking a quick peek, she noticed that the man was reloading his weapons. Wasting no time, Kim leapt out of the car, and rolled onto her feet. She gritted her teeth and growled at the man. His eyes locked sights on her and he threw his guns to the ground. The man smiled, licking his lips, and raising his hands up in anticipation.

"I hope I'm not too rusty." Kim thought, laughing to herself. She ran at the man and threw the first punch, completely missing. The man dodged the attack quite easily, almost chuckling at her. As she pulled back, the man struck Kim with a powerful punch, hitting her in the side, her ribs almost cracking at the massive blow. Kim staggered back a few feet and the man smiled mockingly.

"My boss told me to be careful with you. He said you were proficient at hand-to-hand combat, but I think he was grossly misinformed. A child could've dodged my attack. I'm a little sad that I have to kill you." The man grimaced.

"Kill me?" Kim thought. In all her battles, she never once recalled anyone ever saying that they'd kill her. It was always "you'll pay for that" or "one day I'll get you". Kim looked into her opponents eyes, something was different, his eyes almost looked… empty.

"I've been instructed not to toy with you. So I promise to be quick…" The man reached at his back, unsheathing a rather large knife. He cautiously advanced towards Kim, holding the knife up, and the other hand ready. In a matter of seconds he pounced, he grabbed Kim by the wrist and wrenched it down.

Kim's eyes remained fixed on the hand holding the knife. Ignoring the pain that was shooting through her arm, almost hesitating, she made a fist and punched the man in the throat. Immediately he let her go and dropped the knife. The man clenched his throat, gasping for air. All the while Kim felt remorseful, but she had no other choice, as he dropped on his knees. The man fell on the ground and began crawling quickly towards one of his guns.

"I can't fail…" He gasped. Standing back to his feet, as he promptly cocked the gun. Acting merely on instinct, Kim lunged at the dropped knife, grabbed it, and threw it. The blade flew through the air, until it found itself plunging deep into the soft tissue in his throat. The man dropped the gun and with both of his hands he clenched the handle of the knife. He starred back at Kim, his eyes looking intensely at her, as he pulled the knife out. Kim looked away, as the man fell to his face and died in a pool of his own blood.

'That didn't just happen…" Kim kept telling herself, while rocking herself back and forth, her arms wrapped around her knees. "I just… I just killed a man." She cried. Kim stood up, not looking at the body, and got to her car quickly. She fumbled with the keys, as her hands shook, until she finally got the key in the ignition. The engine started roughly, seeing as how there were multiple bullets in it, but somehow, it did start. Kim Rode the whole way to a small airfield, sitting on broken glass, her mind still fixated on his eyes, seconds before he died. Kim shut her car off, as a man approached the car. It was the captain of the plane.

"Hi, it's nice to see you again." He smiled. "Are you okay? You look a little pale." The man asked.

"I'm okay." Kim smiled unenthusiastically.

"Okay, if you say so." The two boarded the jet and within minutes, were off. Kim stared at her hands during the whole flight, her gut telling her that this was just the tip of the iceberg.