Kim Possible/ X-men:
Glow
Issue #1
A blue-skinned woman pulled herself up over the rocks as she scaled a steep mountain in the middle of nowhere. Several feet below here were her followers. Four men, all conspicuously unusual and some, downright disgusting. She wagered they were nearly three-quarters finished with the job and would arrive at the peak any minute now.
The first man behind her, a pale-green-tinted hunchback flicked out his long tongue to catch a fly on the tip of it. "We could 'ave just as easily flew up 'ere and landed on the top of this bloody mountain in the first place. Why you draggin' us up the side of it, Mystique? This wudn't in our contract."
Mystique swiveled her glowing yellow eyes over to the miserable creature, but refused to answer. She had put up with his grumbling and complaining since they had first set foot on the mountain. She was long done explaining their low-profile approach to him. Clearly, Toad was too simple-minded to understand any strategy that complicated.
Toad didn't need a reply to continue babbling. "All I'm sayin' is that a body gits to a point when it's all 'e can take, you see? An' it's all I was askin' for is to git a little plunder that might be worth it. Not this paltry sum that you insist on payin' some high-level mutants like us."
The second behind Mystique groaned. "If you keep that up, Toad, you won't be worrying about anything…you won't have anything to worry about."
"'ey! Wot do you mean by all this?" Toad paused for a moment. "Oh, I see! You want to off the best bloody member of the team, because you're jealous is all!"
These conversations continued behind Mystique for the duration of the journey. She did not interfere with them. She simply blocked them out of her head and focused on the task before her. The only reason she had hired these second-rate goons was for their muscle and experience, not for their smarts. She would provide the strategies and plans. They would enforce them. Putting up with a little whining throughout the way for a good cause was necessary.
She was the first to reach the top, followed by Avalanche, then Pyro, then Blob, and finally, Toad who had dropped behind and muttered to himself the rest of the time.
The building at the top was oddly shaped, surrounded by barbed-wire fences and spotlights that searched up and down on the same mechanical route. There were dogs asleep near the front door. They were not intimidating and did not seem to even care who passed them.
Mystique motioned to Pyro and pointed to the fences. She avoided conversation as much as possible.
The golden-haired mutant blasted columns of flame from the flame-throwers looped around his arms and allowed it to burn through the fence before snuffing it out with a mental command.
The team picked their way over the remains of the section of fence and walked straight up to the door, the dogs still resting peacefully. The signs posted on the door cautioned anyone bold enough to travel this far to turn away immediately, for the place was haunted. Mystique wasn't phased in the least, if anything, unimpressed. She knocked. Once. Then twice.
The door creaked open two inches and a man with sunglasses and a red body suit poked his head through the door. "Uh…who is dis?" The simpleton muttered in a fresh-out-of-Jersey accent and the seeming air that there were no brains in his head.
"Tell your master that I have a proposition to make. I want to talk to your leader personally, none of you nose-picking henchmen."
The door creaked closed again. Mystique heard footsteps and muttering behind the door followed by a loud cackle.
This time, the door opened all the way. A blue-skinned man in a blue lab coat of some sort that looked disturbingly like a dress stood in the doorway. He had his dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and a large scar was obvious under his eye."
"Has the word gotten through to your master yet, or am I just standing out here meaninglessly?" Mystique inquired.
"I…beg your pardon." The man looked confused and indignant. "There must be some mistake. I am the head-honcho here."
Mystique smirked. "Nice try. I want to see the one called Shego, now."
"Oh, her? She's nothing. Merely my assistant." Drakken waved his hand in boredom. "If you have a proposition, clearly you want to see me."
"Hey, Dr. D. What's up?" A woman in a green and black costume stood behind him. "Who's at the door?"
Drakken turned around. "Ah, you see, lady! This is Shego. Now, you see where you've made your boo-boo?"
Mystique did not answer, but shoved Drakken aside. "You are Shego? I have a deal for you that I'm sure you'll be interested in."
"Talk to me."
"I need your help to build and power a machine. The details aren't important, but I specifically need the Go-Team-Glow to power this machine."
"So, you'd rather come straight to me instead of wasting your time with my quack family. You're pretty smart."
"I'm sure you need a little motivation to get you started." Mystique snapped her finger. Blob came up to her, carrying a bulging bag nearly as big as an average person. He dropped it to the ground, making a thudding noise and unzipped it.
The bag was full of money. American dollars. Shego stood awestruck, never blinking until she asked, "How much is in there?"
"Fifty million dollars. I'll give you the rest of the three hundred million as you continue to work for me."
If there was one thing Shego could not refuse, it was money. "It's a deal." They shook hands.
"Blob, carry this bag into the building." Mystique ordered and turned to Shego. "Where do you want it?"
Shego lead them to a high-ceilinged room with dozens of large gadgets that were obviously worthless. "Just set it down here somewhere."
Dr. Drakken had followed silently this whole time. "Surely, it was me you were after? I'm the machine-building person around here, you know." He squeaked.
"I'll let you tag along, Mr. Drakken…"
"Dr…Drakken."
"…but if you get in the way, it's curtains for you." Mystique turned her back and followed Shego as they began to talk about their deal.
Motor Ed, Drakken's brother, who had been staying the past few days after he broke out of jail, came up behind him. "Chicks. Seriously. They're tough, Bro. You know, even the strongest man's heart can break when it comes to them. Seriously."
Dr. Drakken crossed his arms and gazed in Mystique's direction. "You think we have a shot? We're both blue."
"Not a chance, Bro."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Drakken whined and pouted like a little kid, while the parents talked.
---
Shego and Mystique found a corner in the room where they could talk privately. "Now that we've got a deal, I want the details before I jump into all this," Shego said.
Mystique motioned for her team to make sure no one was listening and began, "Not only do we need your Go-Team-Glow, but you could help provide a little extra muscle for us. We need to steal a couple of components for the machine and every one of them are very well guarded. I have my team of mutants here, but even they have their limits, especially when it comes to brains."
"So, wait a minute. Could you like answer one question for me that's really gonna help out here? What on this planet earth could you possibly want to build that needs all that stuff, 'cause I don't know about you, but…"
"Right now it doesn't concern you. It will soon be obvious with time, but I assure you that it is nothing that will bring harm to you. You're getting paid plenty to be left oblivious of the details for now, don't you think?" Mystique was hiding something. Shego realized this easily, and wasn't too happy about it, but the money is what kept her on the deal.
"Yeah, whatever, but what are we going to steal first?"
Mystique smiled mischievously, "Anything that catches the X-men's eye. I want them to know that Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants are on the loose again. I want them to know that they are about to face their final and permanent destruction. And I want them to fear us for the last time that they can."
---
BOOP! BOOP! BEEP! BOOP!
Kim Possible woke up on that Saturday morning with a grueling headache. She heard the kimmunicator beeping, but only subconsciously. She was only half-awake, but it was just enough to switch the kimmunicator off and drift back into her dream about cuddle buddies.
---
Ron Stoppable turned on the news, hoping to see praises of Team Possible's success in thwarting Duff Killigan's latest plot. What he saw was live coverage of a burglary at CIA headquarters, Langley, in the making. The glimpse of the green plasma beams was all he needed to know that Kim and he should be on the job. It was Shego. And where there was Shego there was Team Possible.
Ron picked up the phone and pressed the speed dial button for Kim. Instead of hearing Kim pick up the kimmunicator and say in her let's-do-it voice "What's the sitch?", he got a recording.
No time to waste. Shego would be gone if he didn't call on the right favors, let alone stop to get Kim. He picked up his new ronnicator and turned it on. Wade, Team Possible's behind-the-scenes genius and technological back-up flashed on the screen.
"Ron, I just got word that Shego is at Langley, right now!" The ten-year-old said in a concerned voice.
"I know." Ron's brow furrowed. "Kim's not answering, and I don't think I have enough time to get there in the first place."
"I think I know just the guy to get you there, but are you sure you want to go without…"
"Do it now! I don't have much time!" Ron turned off the gizmo and stepped outside after stopping to get his mission clothes, Rufus, and a few gadgets.
He waited for several minutes, pacing up and down the sidewalk, and playing a few games of Rock Paper Scissors with Rufus, in which the mole rat was still undefeated. He heard the chopper set down on the road in front of his house and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"C'mon Rufus! It's Ron time!" The naked mole rat scurried up Ron's leg and into his pocket.
---
Note: I don't own this stuff. Don't sue me and all that.
