CHRONICLES OF PALACE

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NEITHER PALACE NOR KIM POSSIBLE. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN, SO DON'T SUE ME.

ARC 1

CHAPTER 2

A/N Ok, I should be studying. I have no idea why I'm typing this out instead. But I think I can cut myself some slack as I've done revising for finals, which is stretching for a whole three weeks. To say the truth, I can't wait for the holidays to come. Anyway, I changed the ratings because of some implicit sexual themes will be out in the light from now on. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, from Shego's viewpoint.

She stood where she liked standing, alone on the edge of the crowd and watching, above the crowd too, on a ramp halfway up and curling around the dome of the Spaceport Terminal. Checking tickets, carrying luggage, herding children, sapients rushed past in all directions, but no-one more than glanced her way. She was hidden in plain sight by her clothes, and despite her pale green skin, the clothes were enough to let her blend in with the various species rushing about in the terminal. Her clothes were finely tailored, but they were utterly undistinguished suit of a factor. Pale green shirt and black slacks. She was practically fuming over the lost of her favourite green and black jump suit on this particular mission, but she had more pressing matters to attend to. She was keeping her eyes on a Lep, who was cleverly disguised as a merchant for Import Guild, but she knew better.

His clothes, consisting of a pale soft shirt, grey short tunic, and a slashed kilt of the same grey. No doubt, a Lep such as himself was hating the garments more than anything, having the thought that human trousers were graceless wear for a sub ugly species, and did him no good when he had a tail. This Lep, a dangerous existence, harboured great hatred for humanity, and given the chance, he would spit on every last human he could find. In one hand, the Lep held a sample case, splashed with colours and the name of an importing film. Judging from the look of the case, she knew that inside the case were jewelleries, providing the Lep with both a cover story and money while he got his real job done here on Palace.

She had no intention to learn his true motives. To the pale skinned teen, all she had to do was to bring the Lep in and put an end to the tale of the most dangerous assassin in the Pinch. But she knew not to be deceived by looks as well. The Lep may seemed incapable of any physical exertion with the way he was standing, shoulders slumped, and bent over, but she had experienced first-hand that the claws and tail of the Lep were deadly, and ended up in the guild's medical bay for days, nursing her wounded pride besides her wounds.

She continued the watch on him as he leaned on the railing of the ramp not far away from her, and he was looking down at the swarming terminal, where sapients of half a dozen races milled around or squabbled over the scanty seating. She heard the crowd as a roar and babble, half a dozen languages mixed with the flat tones of Gen, the official trade-talk of that region of the galaxy known as the Pinch. Over it all a booming noise sounded, as if a thunderstorm was gathering under the forcedome far above the terminal. She could see the source of the boom from above, and knew her target had spotted them too: hundreds of saccules, the short and pouch native race on Palace, who were scurrying and dodging through the crowd. Dressed in simple shifts, as if they were children ready for bed, they carried refreshments, cleared paths for their human masters, while they boomed and squealed and did their best to mimic human speech with the throat sacs and ouches clustered clustering around their eating mouths. Their odour reached her and him as well, even up as high as they stood, and she noticed the Lep's crest lifted in disgust. The saccules gave off a smell-babble of scents that had earned them their nickname, Stinkers.

She saw the look of disgust that crossed the Lep's face, and a human who had moved behind the Lep, arm outstretched for the sample case. She began to move in their direction, but the Lep was faster. He grabbed the human by his arm, and flung the human over the rails, watching with a smug grin on his scaly face, and a gentle rustle of his crest. The human's face was frozen in shock, and a shrilling scream was torn from his mouth as he fell over the edge.

The human landed with a bone crunching sound, and all at once, the Spaceport became quit, all eyes staring at the dead body laid spread eagle with the limbs twisted at irregular angles, blood pooling around him. His eyes were wide in surprise, and his mouth gaping open. Then, the crowd began to shout, and ran for the exits. Security guards moved in to calm them down, but the crowd was set on leaving the scene as fast as possible., cordoning the guards away from the corpse. The saccules let out a smell like vomit from their pouches, stinking the air up even more. Shrill sirens broke through the screams, and orders were barked over megaphones, but no one was listening.

"The Outcast is on planet!" she barked into her comm unit, and ran for the Lep. "All unit, converge on Spaceport Terminal exit!"

The Lep heard her behind him, and turned with a swish of his tail, but she jumped over it, clearly anticipated his move. She lunged at him, but he dodged, and raised his voice over the screams.

"The murderer!" he yelled in Gen. "That way!"

And he ran, with several humans running behind him, chasing after their imaginary murderer. She cursed, losing the Lep in the midst of the swarming humans. She reached for her comm unit.

"He's headed for the exits, take him down!" she yelled, and pushed her way through the crowd, headed for exits. "I want him in, alive!"

She switched the bothersome piece of device off and took a mad dash after the Lep. She jumped over the rails, landing in a crouch among the wailing humans, and rushed towards the exit. The Lep turned to look at what was the commotion about, and raised his crest in amusement when he saw the pale green woman chasing him.

"My, my Sheridan, is my charm rubbing on you?" he said in Lepir, but she understood the words perfectly. "Haven't gotten enough of me yet, have you?"

Sheridan snarled, and lit both of her hands up. Green plasma with black swirling in them covered both of her hands, their intense heat rolling through the room, and the sapients ran for cover. Sheridan threw two spheres of the intense orbs at the Outcast, but the Lep flung his sample case aside, and crouched down, the orbs sailing past his head, hitting two vidscreens behind him, blowing them into smithereens.

"You fucking Lep, how did you get back here?" she all but snarled at the scaly reptile.

But the Lep didn't answer her. He turned his head, looking at the gates that led to outside the terminal. Up close, he could see that every exit stood guarded not just one gate, but a series of long tunnel of autogates stretching toward the grey light of outside and safety. Behind him, Sheridan came to a stop as well, standing out of the range of his tail, but within range of her plasma. She lit both hands up once more, and the Outcast took one glance at the plasma covered hands, and bolted through the gates.

Sheridan was shocked, her mind racing through the facts that had been drilled into her mind. The Outcast was under sentence of death on more than one world, and the police of all those worlds had encoded his DNA signature into their security systems. But now, he was clearing all the gates, and she watched in muted shock as he passed the eighth gate, ninth, and tenth. The door ahead of him opened with a hiss of air, and closed when he dashed through.

With an angry growl, she raced after the Lep, and by the time she reached outside, the Lep was nowhere to be seen. She cursed herself for her incompetence. The Outcast had dared to return to Palace, of course he would have a way to bypass the security system. Hell, by now, she would even believe that the Lep had ways to bypass Caliostro and Nimue.

Sheridan fished out her comm unit. "Lost him, cyclops."

"At least we've confirmed that he's here on Palace. Return to guild headquarters now. I have more pressing issues to discuss with you," came the director's voice. "And judging from my past conversations with you, you're not going to like it."

Sheridan growled, not bothering to answer and turned the bothersome unit off. She walked down the corner, the grey sky of Palace over her head, and headed towards a row of sleek robocabs and a queue of passengers waiting for their turn. But she was in no mood to wait. Flashing her badge at the humans and Hirrels, she boarded the first robocab in line and sank into the soft cushions of the back seat.

"Rimaria district, Military Sect," she said. "Freelance Guild headquarters."

"Authorization for entering Military Sect." came the dull voice of the AI.

Sheridan frowned, and growling, pressed her right thumb over the ID plate. The machinery whined once, and the cab roared to life. Unbeknownst to her, her target was in the robocab just in front of her, and veered off towards Pleasure Sect when they reached the junction.

kpkpkpkpkp

Sheridan threw herself onto the divan in her small office, and pulled a small cushion to her face, stifling the screams of frustration that she was letting out after yet another failed attempt at capturing the Outcast. It was the sixth time she had let that Lep got away. The first few times were on Tableau, Souk and Ri, and now, Palace.

Then it hit her. She sat up straight, pushing loose strands of her raven hair away from her face. Palace had the best security systems in the Pinch, and yet the Outcast had managed to get onto the planet with a forged ticket and identity, and walked, raced through the autogates as if they none existing. That was what baffled her, and resulted in losing him in Palace.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Betty asked from the door, earning a growl from the green skinned woman. "You do know that I wouldn't blame you for letting the Outcast get away, don't you? I've been tipped that Riva is the one who made a contract with him this time."

"Riva? Then shouldn't you talk to Master Jons instead of me? Riva is Jons' old time rival. I bet he would love to know that rogue cybermaster is employing the best assassin in the Pinch to carry out her dirty work. Who is she after this time?"

Betty took a seat on one of the chairs. "That's the most bizarre part. I can understand why she wants to put Arno out of the game, the boy's too smart for his own good. But the other target, and Un-Marked girl named Vida, that's what got me wondering the whole day. Why employ the best assassin to kill a genetic cull in the eyes of Palace citizens? To those people out there, the people in Pleasure Sect are mere tools, genetic trash. But, Riva has taken an interest in this girl."

Sheridan rolled her eyes. "Simple, ain't it? The girl has something that old Riva actually fears. I don't know what it is, but one thing's for sure, that girl is no simple genetic cull, as what you called her. Living for this long has taught me that the world is not as we see it. For someone older than me, shouldn't you understand that better than me?"

The director frowned. She didn't like it whenever the green woman brought up their ages. She was nearing a century, with wisps of grey in her dark hair, whereas the younger woman was barely fifty, young in the eyes of most Palace citizens. That was what the life extension treatment was all about. Humans on Palace normally live up to around a hundred and fifty years, some even more from the treatment, though a few were immune to the treatment, such as Karlo Peronida, the current First Citizen of Palace.

"Don't remind me of my age, Sheridan," Betty waved it off dismissively, but Sheridan merely smirked, waiting for the one-eyed director to get to the point. "The girl, that's where you and your new partner will come in. Or rather, your new student."

Sheridan's emerald eyes widened in shock, and she shot up from her seat, glaring down at her old time friend. "Cyclops, you are not doing this to me!" she nearly yelled at the woman. "You know I'm not a team player, so why are you trying to force me back into this gig?!"

"Because she is special," Betty replied in a smooth tone, meeting Sheridan's angry gaze calmly. "As I've mentioned earlier, I received tips off planet, that the Outcast is on the move. I want her to take Vida's place, and I want you to be her bodyguard."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Sheridan sputtered, raising both hands up. "I'm not some cheap for hired bodyguards, like those Garangs the Peronida has trailing behind him. I'm a master in this guild!"

Betty stood up. "I know, and I know you're the only one I can actually trust with this mission. You're my friend, a friend who saved me from those monsters on Ri."

"Don't pull this friend bullshit on me now," she yelled, green flames bursting from her hands. "That's why I was so hesitant in saving you. And, on a side note, I joined this guild for the adrenaline ride, not becoming a babysitter!"

Sheridan turned and headed for the exit, but Betty's next words froze her.

"So, you're just going to let Kimberly do all that on her own, without backup? Kata was able to hurt even you, Sheridan, are you going to let her face him?" Betty took a step towards her furious friend. "You know deep inside your heart, you care for the redhead. Wasn't that the reason you saved her on Tableau?"

Sheridan turned slowly. "You're putting Princess on this? Are you insane? You'll get her killed!"

"I don't have a choice, Sheridan," Betty said, sighing in resignation. "I need someone to take over the guild. I can't keep doing this for another fifty years. The guild needs new blood, and only by making her the guild master can we achieve that. Besides, we both know that you have what it takes to step into my shoes, but won't."

Sheridan wheeled to face her, face contorted in disgust. "She's barely a Not-Child, cyclops. You will not endanger all her one hundred and fifty years ahead of her."

"Then help her," Betty said to her face. "You're the only one qualified for this. No other agents in the guild can actually be on par with her, let alone understand how crazy she can be sometimes."

"Tell me, then, what's all this about?" Sheridan queried, sitting down once more. "At least let me know what is going on, aside from having Princess taking that whore's place, and me becoming the bodyguard."

Betty sat down as well. "Please, she's not a whore. She's never Marked," she began, but Sheridan merely scoffed. "First, we will need to find a way to get Vida out of Pleasure Sect. I will put in a word with Cardinal Roha, and try to persuade Karlo to take the child in, perhaps even as a lawdaugter."

Sheridan laughed. "Bets, are you serious? Karlo's wife will kill the poor thing with her eyes alone. You know full well how Vanna will take all this, yet you want to ship that girl to Government House? So that Vanna has a new toy to torment?"

"Yes, I know that, but I believe Cardinal Roha will be able to bring up some good reasons for Karlo to take the child in. Setting all these aside, as I've mentioned, Kimberly will take Vida's place at The Close, with you as her bodyguard. Of course both of you will have to pretend to be someone from Pleasure."

"You want me to pretend to be a prostitute?!" Sheridan nearly screamed.

Betty narrowed her eyes. "If you have any other suggestions, feel free to tell me about them. Moving on, Kimberly is currently putting together a team to help her from behind the scenes. You will remain in sight all the time as you are her bodyguard, so Kimberly will need someone else who is able to leave the establishment and Sect to keep in touch with what's going on outside so they can formulate a plan."

"I've given up trying to make my point known," the pale woman replied, waving dismissively. "All that I'm interested to know is this, who will be on this team that pumpkin is putting together? Since I'm gonna be her bodyguard, whether I like it or not, I might as well get to know whether they will be trustworthy or not."

The director nodded. "Point taken, Sheridan. Kim has currently brought Ronald Stoppable from Yamanouchi planet and his fiancée, Yori to help her on stealth missions, as well as provide extra protection from the shadows. Wade Load, a prodigy in our RD department to provide gadgets and com agent. Monique Robinson, an agent I've placed in Pleasure for years to look into the drug traffic will be teaching her all that Kimberly will need to know to survive in Pleasure."

"Wait up," Sheridan put up a hand to stop Betty. "Why does Princess needs to know all that? Taking that girl's place is one thing, but she's not going to be a prostitute, whether you like it or not."

"Yes, yes," Betty concurred. "Have no fears about that. I will put in a word with Aleen about this, and make sure that Kimberly will only be her ward, nothing more than that. We only need Kimberly to divert Kata's attention, and not becoming a full-fledged member in Pleasure Sect."

Sheridan resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and smirked. "So, about my raise…"

Betty groaned.