AN: Sorry guys, I wish had a decent explanation for my, erm…disappearance. All I can say is I rewrote this chapter at least 5 times before I pretty much gave up on the whole thing. I hardly have time for writing or internet anymore, that's just life I guess. Anyways for the longest time I had given up on this story, until a friend let me borrow the Wicked soundtrack. Such an awesome musical! What really scared me was that some of my ideas for this story were similar to the plot in Wicked. They shouldn't be too noticeable considering I keep changing my ideas for this story, but just in case, anything you see in this story remotely similar to Wicked, either the book or the musical, is purely coincidence. Anyways, after becoming a Wicked fan I decided to give this chapter one more rewrite and this is what I came up with. I'm not thrilled with it, but at least I'm not making a million plot changes at the last minute! I dunno how long it will take me to update again, what with school starting and all that jazz. All I can say is I'll update as soon as I can.
Chapter 1: Feliah Morgan
After leaving Go City, Kim and Ron hastily returned home to Middleton to drop off the remarkably heavy boxes of videos and grab a snack, at least Ron did, and then rushed back to the airport to catch a flight to Washington State, where Feliah currently worked. Kim had spent the majority of the flight catching up on homework, as she usually did. Ron on the other hand, had managed to grab a few brochures on "The Famed Restaurants of Louisiana" and was thoroughly absorbed in reading one.
"Hey, Kim, did you know that Breaux Bridge, Louisiana is the crawfish capital of the world!" he stated in awe.
Kim looked up from her textbook and laughed, "I swear, Ron, you learn more from reading those brochures than you do a whole year in history class."
"Well, if Mr. Lee wasn't as boring as a rock I might learn a lot more," Ron said, defensively.
Kim couldn't help but nod in agreement. Mr. Lee was a very dull teacher. His low monotone almost put her to sleep a number of times. Combine that with his endless slideshow presentations and lectures, it was a wonder if anybody learned anything in that class.
"Hey Kim, did you know that the capital of Louisiana is French for 'Red Stick'? Who would name a city Red Stick?" Ron stared at the brochure, completely baffled.
Kim shrugged, trying to shift her concentration to the textbook opened in front of her. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to focus on her schoolwork. Her mind kept shifting from school, to missions, to Ron, to those shoes she saw at Club Banana, to her family, to Ron, to the new cheer routine, to Ron, to the upcoming summer, to Ron…Oh, why did she bother denying it? Most, if not all, of her thought-life had become devoted to Ron. It wasn't like much of their relationship had changed, externally. In fact, if you hadn't seen the events of Prom Night two weeks ago and hadn't heard any of the gossip that flooded Middleton High, you would probably assume she and Ron weren't dating at all. And yet, Kim felt like a totally different person around him now. She was more observant of him, more aware of habits, his speech, his nature, than she ever had been before. Several times she caught herself staring absent-mindedly at him, trying hopelessly to figure out what he was thinking. Was this how relationships were supposed to work? Or was she doing something wrong?
Kim winced as a painful headache suddenly hit her, like a hammer crashing cruelly against her skull. She nearly snapped her pencil in half in an effort to calm her throbbing head. The pain increased unmercifully, the sound of a thousand insects humming filling her ears. Kim bit her lip, trying to relieve the pain by shifting it to another part of her body, but the effort proved useless and the pain persisted.
"You got one of those headaches again, KP?" she heard Ron say, his normally cheerful voice filled with concern. She didn't dare to look at him, the slightest movement of her head made her want to scream.
"C….Can you hand me an aspirin?" she said, gritting her teeth. Ron laid a comforting hand on her shoulder as he reached into her backpack and pulled out a plastic bottle. She eagerly tore the cap of and dropped two chalky pills into her mouth. The headaches had started a little over a week ago. Faintly at first, but each one had grown more and more painful to the point where she couldn't bear it. At first she had chosen to ignore them, after all, she was Kim Possible, and a silly thing like a few headaches shouldn't bother her in the slightest. But now…now it felt like her head was about to explode! Kim felt her body shudder as if she was suddenly thrown into an icy lake, and then all pain disappeared as suddenly as it came.
Kim let out a huge sigh of relief, lying back against the cushioned seat triumphantly. Ron, however, didn't look so relieved. "You ok, KP?" he asked her, obviously concerned.
"Of course, Ron. I'm fine," she said, matter-of-factly.
"You weren't fine two minutes ago," Ron pointed out. Rufus, who had woken from a short nap in Ron's pocket, nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'm fine now," Kim replied, slightly irritated that he insisted on pressing the matter.
"Maybe we should call this off and tell your…"
"Nobody is telling anybody anything," she said firmly, crossing her arms to indicate her annoyance. Ron had been nagging at her for the past week to tell her parents about her migraines. She had immediately dismissed the idea. Her parents had enough problems on their hands already; they didn't need to worry about a pointless headache. Besides, the migraines were merely a stage she was going through, probably from stress, and they went away as quickly and easily as they came. She was confident they would go away completely if she just relaxed a little. Now, if only Ron could see the issue her way.
"I'm serious, Kim, these headaches are a real problem,"
"Ron, it's no big, trust me!" she exclaimed, putting the emphasis on the word "trust". Ron sighed, surrendering his argument, simultaneously wishing he had Kim's skill at winning arguments.
Kim shut her textbook quietly, determined to get some rest before the plane landed. "It's just stress," she told herself, "You have nothing to worry about."
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"Room 306, this is it!" Kim said, stepping towards the blue painted door and pushing it open with an air of confidence. She froze once she got her first glance of the room. Between her missions and having a rocket scientist for a father, Kim had visited quite a number of laboratories, but she had never seen one like this. She had never seen any room like this.
Whereas most labs were primarily white, this lab was primarily grey. The walls were painted a soft blue-grey color and were completely bare of pictures. Thick, black curtains were nailed to the walls covering the room's single window, as if the owner of the room couldn't tolerate any sunlight. In fact, if it weren't for the tall floor lamp shoved in a corner the room nobody would be able to see anything. A large cabinet sticking out of the wall like a lone tooth in a young baby's mouth served as a sort of junk drawer with books and glass jars filled with sand and various sized rocks cluttering its shelves. A bulky microscope served as the room's only remotely modern appliance. It sat atop a small, white desk in the middle of the room, its surface was littered with books, loose sheets of paper, and two rather large, black boots attached to a rather slim woman, relaxing in a chair and bobbing her head to the music blasting from her headphones to her ears.
As soon as she noticed Kim and Ron, she turned off the device and offered them a large, yet almost unnatural, smile.
"What can I do for you children?" she said, lowering her feet to the laminated floor. Her voice was surprisingly rich and melodious, a deep contrast to the rest of the room.
Kim decided it would be better to introduce them before stating their business. "You must be Feliah Morgan. I'm Kim Possible," she said, "and this is…"
"Ah, yes, the teen hero and her sidekick," Feliah interrupted, "Ron Stoppable, isn't it?" Ron's jaw dropped. A complete and total stranger knew his name! "Yes, I've heard all about your adventures," she continued, "quite fascinating actually. Though I do admit you've caught me off guard. To what do I owe this honor?" She leaned back in her chair again; her large eyes sparkled with interest and glided slowly up and down her to visitors. Kim sensed she was taking in every detail of their appearance, perhaps even deeper, and mentally filing it away somewhere for future use. Though what that future use could possibly be, Kim had no idea.
Kim's eyes narrowed as she attempted the same feat and evaluated the woman sitting in front of her. She had a thick, tangled mass of black hair that reached to the middle of her back. Streaks of grey ran through it in large clumps, suggesting that she was no longer a young woman. She had a pair of large, brown eyes, heavily made up and framed by thick eye lashes. She also had a way of lowering her eyelids halfway and still maintaining an intense focus on whatever she happened to be looking at. It was almost…unnerving. Her nose and lips seemed to match the rest of her body; long and fluid. The only features that seemed to contradict this were her fascinating eyes. Her clothing consisted of mainly two colors: black and a rusty orange. She wore an orange shirt that reached to the middle of her forearm and black shirt with a ruffled collar and sleeves on top of it. Her hands were covered with a pair of small, black gloves with holes cut for the fingers, revealing ten slender appendages and incredibly thick, sharp nails. Looking at them made Kim slightly nauseous, they were wider and longer than her actual fingers and each curled over slightly, mimicking a deadly Arabian saber. A thick belt marked the transition from her shirt to her pants, which were so loose her legs seemed to drown in the fabric. A small side pocket had been crudely sewn onto the side of her left leg. A pair of hideous old boots along with an orange dog collar fastened around her neck completed her attire. Kim shuddered at the collection of fashion-don'ts that made up Feliah's appearance. The only really beautiful thing about her was her eyes, and those were covered in so much eye-shadow and mascara they quickly lost their impact.
Kim glanced waywardly at Ron, who looked slightly confused in all the silence. His large brown eyes darted from her, to Feliah, then back to her again. Kim decided now would be a good time to speak.
"I understand that you specialize in crystals," Kim said.
"Yes…" Feliah replied slowly, glancing suspiciously at Kim and Ron.
"Can you identify this?" Kim reached into her pocket and held out the crystal. At first glance, Feliah didn't seem to be very interested. However, upon looking at it a second time, her expressive eyes widened and she was barely able to choke out a "Where did you get that?"
Her reaction somewhat startled Kim and Ron. They were expecting laughter, or maybe a simple, "This is completely worthless," they weren't expecting the bewildered look they were getting and it threw them off quite a bit.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Kim asked.
Feliah's stunned look vanished and she resumed her normal, relaxed state. "Begging your pardon," her jagged nails stretched out towards the gem, clasping it in her hand, "I believe I mistook it for something else." The crystal firmly in her grasp she dug through several drawers in the desk before fishing out a giant magnifying glass.
"You can tell what it is by looking through that?" Ron asked, skeptically.
"Hush, boy," Feliah snapped her fingers literally underneath Ron's nose. He and Rufus gulped and stared in horror at her sharp nails.
Feliah stared into the magnifying glass at the ebony crystal. She spent a few minutes turning it, tapping it roughly with a pointed finger and frowning in perplexity. Out of nowhere, a sleek black cat leaped onto the desk, knocking several papers onto the floor and purring loudly. Feliah seemed so absorbed in her study of the crystal she didn't notice the cat…but Rufus did.
With a terrified shriek, he leaped from Ron's shoulder a made a mad dash towards the door. "Rufus!" Ron started after his pet, but with one bound from her long legs the cat beat him to it. She arched her back, the fur on her tail standing on end, and hissed cruelly at the petrified mole rat plastered in fear against the wall. Feliah dropped the crystal and leaped after the cat along with Kim, and the two ended up knocking into each other. As they groaned and rubbed the spot where their heads met, the cat had Rufus racing furiously around the room. In a desperate move, Rufus darted straight for the opposing wall, then, at the last second before impact, darted in another direction. The cat hadn't suspected that and slid almost gracefully into the wall, knocking a few things from the cabinet above her onto the floor, which she was barely able to dodge. Feliah groaned as she watched a particularly large jar of sand crash, coating the cat and everything within a three foot radius in a shower of brown dust. Rufus took advantage his opportunity and squeezed himself in the cramped space between the desk and the floor. He had barely concealed himself before the cat was up on her feet once more, pawing and scratching viciously at the hole Rufus just crawled through. Ron, Kim, and Feliah raced around the desk to where the cat was attempting to scratch through three inches of solid oak. Feliah got there first and scooped the cat up gingerly into her arms. The cat fought and dug her claws into Feliah's ugly orange shirt. Feliah struggled with the cat, gritting her teeth every time it scratched her arm.
"Come now, Bastet," she said to the cat between clenched teeth. "This is no way for you to behave," Bastet didn't cease her struggling "Curse it! If you don't velvet those claws this instant I shall bloody well be forced to skin you alive!" Feliah shouted in frustration, her voice morphing into a sort of refined British accent. What happened next left Kim and Ron rather stunned. Bastet released her hold on Feliah and dropped to the floor, looked up at her mistress through large, yellow eyes filled to the brim with remorse, and slunk out of the room with drooped shoulders, slamming the door behind her with her tail.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Rufus scurried out from his hiding place and into Ron's open palm. "It's okay, buddy," he said, to the quivering mole rat.
Feliah's large eyes fell on Rufus, making both him and Ron slightly uncomfortable. "That's quite an animal you've got," she said, her voice returning to its normal accent.
"Rufus is more than an animal," Ron said defensively, "and…and that cat of yours almost ate him!"
"Ron, don't…" Kim began.
"Bastet? Oh, she's not really my cat. Nobody's actually. That poor thing wanders about like a fish out of water. I feed her a bit and help her when need be, so I suppose she's my cat in that respect. But it's hard to be someone's pet when you refuse to obey them, eh?"
"Are you kidding?" Ron said looking at Feliah in disbelief, "you practically ordered her to walk out and she did. It's like she understood every word you said!"
"Uh, Ron, Rufus understands every word we say," Kim said, pointing out the flaw in his reasoning as politely as she could.
"Yeah," Rufus squeaked, crossing his arms defensively.
Ron grinned sheepishly in apology.
"So, about the rock," Kim said, turning towards Feliah.
"Oh, of course, how impertinent of me!" Feliah smiled slyly and reached for the crystal. "It really is an excellent trick," she said holding it up so the facets caught the light and reflected it into millions of bouncing rainbows. "The mastermind who created it must be very proud."
"So, it isn't worth anything?" Kim said.
Feliah shook her head, making the stray bits of hair that were cut far too short tremble. "Sorry, darling," she dropped the rock into Kim's hand, "I'm afraid it's a fake."
"Well, it didn't hurt to check," Kim slipped the crystal into her pocket all the while trying to forget that someone had called her "darling". "Thank you for your time, Ms. Morgan," she said as she and Ron slipped quietly out the door.
"My pleasure, children," Feliah replied, watching them leave. As soon as their footsteps disappeared down the hall Bastet emerged and crept towards her mistress, her bright yellow eyes gleaming with understanding. Feliah lifted the cat and placed it on her lap, gently stroking her sleek black head. "That's very interesting," she whispered to herself, a sly smile stretching across her face.
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"That's it! It's brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
Shego groaned and lowered her magazine, "What is it this time, doc?" Drakken had been at it all day, forking out one brilliant-take-over-the-world-plan after another. Unfortunately, most of them either involved technology so bizarre it would take centuries to invent, or was just plain idiotic.
"It's so perfect I can't believe I thought of it," Drakken ranted, raising a rolled up blueprint like it was the Declaration of Independence.
"Well, what is it?" Shego snapped, growing somewhat impatient.
Drakken unrolled the blueprint, beaming with pride. "Alright, first we build a giant magnet so powerful it can suck up every ship, every plane, and every tank of every army in the entire globe. Then, we use our new arsenal to invade every superpower of the world. With no weaponry to speak of, the entire globe will be forced to surrender to ME!" Drakken ended his rant with a flourish, raising his arms in the air and laughing menacingly.
Shego waited motionless for him to run out of breath. When he finally did, she lowered her magazine, looking skeptically up at her ecstatic boss. "So, what about everything else?"
"Huh?" Drakken said, still displaying and insanely wide smile.
"Well, don't you think the magnet is gonna pick up things other than weapons. Lots of things are magnetic ya know. Some buildings, cars, nails, street signs, what are we supposed with those, have a garage sale?"
Instantly the acre-wide grin vanished from Drakken's face. He crumpled the blueprint into a huge ball and tossed it nonchalantly over his shoulder to the giant mountain of balled up papers nearly reaching to the ceiling. "That's it, I'm out of ideas!" He groaned miserably and collapsed onto the desk he had been working on. "My inspiration has finally run dry. My muse for evil schemes has left…"
"Oh, quit being so dramatic!" Shego said, rolling her eyes and picking up her magazine once more. It was like this every time. Drakken got an idea, it stunk, and he pouted for hours like an immature child until he got another one.
Scarcely a moment had passed before an image of Kim and Ron running down the sidewalk, Kim with her Kimmunicator out and Ron trying to stuff a sandwich down his throat while keeping up with his girlfriend, appeared on a computer screen. A recording of a high-pitched feminine voice came on over the loudspeakers, "Kim Possible 100 feet enclosing."
"All those years, all those endless nights pouring over science textbooks and the Villains Weekly…" Drakken had been so busy ranting he hadn't noticed the warning. Without stopping for breath he continued, "…changing lairs 57 times!"
"Uh…Dr. D?" Shego said, trying to turn his attention towards the computer screen.
"Kim Possible 70 feet enclosing."
"Dr. D!" Shego's voice crescendoed as the scientist continued his rant.
"Kim Possible 30 feet enclosing."
"DRAKKEN!" Shego shouted as loud as she could.
"Shego, please, I can't concentrate with you screaming!" Drakken shouted back.
"Kim Possible 10 feet enclosing."
"What!" Drakken's eyes bulged in shock as he finally noticed the teen hero quickly approaching his lair. "Shego! Why didn't you tell me?"
Shego groaned, choosing not to mention that she had been trying to get his attention the whole time and instead dropped back into her chair with a frustrated grunt.
"Kim Possible will enter lair in 5…4…3…2…"
Precisely on que, the metal doors burst open to reveal Kim and Ron blocking the steady stream of sunlight that now flowed into the lair.
"Kim Possible, what a surprise! Jumping the gun a bit aren't we?" Drakken said, recovering from his anger in time to face his arch foe.
"Beg pardon?" Kim raised her eyebrows in perplexity.
"It's just you usually wait until after Drakken comes up with his ingenious foolproof plot to show up." Shego said sarcastically.
"Well, for once, we aren't here to stop you," Kim said, fully aware of the absurdity of her own words.
Drakken's blood started to boil in frustration. First Commodore Puddles ate his formula for the perfect lemonade, then he ran out of brilliant ideas for world domination, and now Kim Possible was standing in his lair without so much as an excuse!
"Then what are you doing here?" Shego asked, also visibly annoyed.
"We thought we'd just, you know swing by…grab some snackage…" Ron began.
"I have something for you," Kim said with a smirk, normally she didn't toy with people like this. She always preferred to get the job done quickly with no funny business attached. But the frustrated look on Drakken's face was so amusing and fulfilling; she couldn't help but be a little vague just to keep it that way a few minutes longer.
"Since when has my arch foe become my delivery boy….girl…whatever!" Drakken snapped. "Very well, hand it over!"
"Actually, it's for Shego." Kim said reaching into her pocket and grinning at the bewildered looks her two foes were giving her. Shego was the first to recover.
"How sweet," she said sarcastically, "I'd hate to rain on your parade Kimmie but my birthday isn't for three months."
Without a word in reply, Kim tossed a black, fist-sized object towards Shego, who caught it expertly with one hand. For a moment, the entire room was silent; everyone was staring at the black crystal resting in Shego's palm. Noticing the shocked look on his employee's face, Drakken let out an embarrassed cough, "Would you look at the time," he said, glancing at the invisible watch around his wrist, "I still have to walk Commodore Puddles. Better get to it before it gets dark…" just as he turned to leave the room, Shego's arm reached out and grabbed the back of his collar, preventing him from leaving. Shego herself had continued to stare at the rock with a somewhat horrified expression for quite sometime before raising her head to face Kim and Ron.
"Where…exactly…did you find this?" she said in a shaky voice completely foreign to everyone in the room.
"Hego," Kim and Ron said in unison.
"What!" Shego exclaimed, releasing Drakken and the rock to grab hold of Kim's shoulders and shake her violently "Do not lie to me, Kim Possible!"
"Me? Lie?" Kim said, wrestling out of Shego's harsh grip.
"Actually Kim, she does have a point. Remember Halloween?" Ron said.
"Ron…not helping!" Kim said, shuddering at the memory. "Yes, Hego found the rock on his doorstep…with this," she handed Shego the note Hego had received with the crystal. Shego snatched it out of her hands and read it hurriedly. Drakken attempted to peek at the note over her shoulder, but one glare from Shego sent him slinking back towards the door. When her eyes finished running over the page she turned to Kim and Ron.
"Alright, you two….out, NOW!" she shouted.
"But…" Kim began.
Shego's gloves instantly lit up in glowing green flames as her glare deepened. "Uh…you heard her, KP." Ron said, tugging at his friend's arm towards the exit.
"Ron…" Kim began to protest, she didn't want to just deliver the mysterious rock; she wanted some answers. Their visit to Hego had aroused some curiosity within her. What was Shego really like as a kid? Why exactly did she quit Team Go? What was the significance of the stupid rock anyway? Maybe there was a clue in one of those video tapes Hego had given them…
Kim gasped, "Ron, we forgot the videos!"
"You mean the hundred pound boxes we had to drag from Hego's house to the helicopter…I'm glad we forgot them." Ron said.
"Hego gave you what?" Shego asked.
"We'll mail them to you." Ron said, halfway out the door. "Come on, KP! Our ride leaves in fifteen minutes."
Kim suppressed the urge to stay and get some decent answers, only because Ron had a very good point. If they didn't get moving, they would miss their ride. Silently surrendering, she followed Ron out the door.
As soon as it shut, Shego collapsed into the chair she had previously been sitting in and let out a long groan. Drakken approached her with crossed arms, trying to muster up an air of intimidation. "Shego, what is this all about?" he asked, secretly praying she would give a straight answer for once.
"I need to pack," she said, half to herself. She sidestepped Drakken and moved towards the entrance to her half of the lair.
"Pack? For what?"
"I need to leave for awhile. 'An old friend' just asked me to visit."
"That's what this is about? Shego, high school reunions aren't that embarrassing…"
"How would you know? You never went to yours, remember. Besides this has nothing to do with my high school reunion."
"Then where are you going?"
"Aren't you the nosy one? Look, I'll call you when I get there. Just don't track me down or you're a dead man!" She said the last phrase with a hard glare, then left the room, leaving a rather confused scientist alone to ponder the day's events.
AN: Well, that's it! I was gonna make this chapter longer, but I'm not sure if I should keep or take away a couple scenes yet. Thanx to all the people who reviewed my last chapter!