Disclaimer: All Kim Possible characters belong to Disney and their creators. Original characters belong to me; if for some reason you'd like to use them please ask and let me know.
Kim Possible: Freaked Out
Chapter Two
By Deaku
A multi-colored van was speeding down the streets of Go City, quickly weaving through the traffic and nearly scraping the sides of several other vehicles. Driving the van was a muscular young man wearing an outfit of blue and black, he had a serious look as he made his way through the traffic as quickly as he could. In the passenger-side seat was a slim teenage boy wearing purple and black, he had a slightly exasperated look on his face as he was trying to hang on. In the middle of the rear seat was a lithe teenage girl in green and black, her expression was one of annoyance that was beginning to turn to anger from being thrown around by the rough ride. On each side of the girl was a boy wearing red and black, the twins seemed to be the only ones enjoying the ride.
"Would you slow down Hego!" Shego yelled as she dug her claws into the seat to stay in one place. "You're gonna get us in an accident before we even get there!"
"Seriously Hego who taught you to drive?" Mego added as they nearly missed hitting the side of a large truck.
"C'mon you two, this is an emergency!" Hego told them as he quickly whipped the van around a corner. "There's something serious going on downtown!"
"Speaking of emergencies Hego the principal is starting to complain about these 'family emergencies' of ours." Mego said as he recovered from the sudden turn. "She doesn't exactly appreciate all the close calls you've had with the faculty's cars when you've come to pick up me and Shego. She's probably still thinking about the time you took off her bumper."
"That was just the one time." Hego said defensively. "I have not had a single accident since then."
"I'm surprised that no one's figured out what we're doing yet, a few of the other students have noticed that the Go Van always seems to be around when we leave on our 'family emergencies'." Shego commented, then gave a wry smile. "Most of them never did seem all that bright though."
"What's happening downtown anyway?" The first Wego asked.
"Turn on the scanner so we can hear what's going on." The second Wego suggested.
Mego reached over to the center of the console and flipped a switch then hit a few buttons. The system's speakers crackled with static then the sound of a slightly panicked voice came on. "I don't know how to describe it folks, this thing defies description. It defies logic!"
There was a brief crackle of static as the channel changed and a calmer voice came on. " …a massive mound of flesh dark gray in coloration. All sorts of mouths and eyes cover the central mass. And what parts don't have mouths or eyes have some sort of limb sticking out; there's all sorts of insect-like legs and claws, animalistic limbs with massive claws, and there's lots of tentacles all over the place." Distant screams could be heard in the background. "It's knocking and throwing people and vehicles out of its path to get to a street-side market where it is now feeding on all the foodstuffs within its reach."
The channel changed again. "…rampage seems to have started near the hospital where eyewitness reports say the creature burst out through a wall and began to make its way downtown." Shego's eyes widened as she heard the word hospital. "Reports state that this creature was roughly humanoid in shape and human-size when it was first sighted. However when the police engaged the creature and began shooting it, in a quote by many eye witnesses, 'Freaked out!' and began changing and growing larger. Then…"
"…finished off all the food at the street market and is now moving back out into the streets, approaching the intersection of Main and 28th." The voice reported, from a helicopter judging by the background noise. "The police have failed to put a stop to this monster's rampage. Where is Team Go? Do even our city's heroes have a hope of defeating this monstrosity?"
"Team Go is here!" Hego answered the reporter's question as he turned around another corner and brought the van to a stop just down the street from where the creature was. Hego and the rest of Team Go quickly jumped out of the van. "And we will stop this monstrosity!"
Team Go could see the creature and it was just as one of the reporters described; a large mass of dark gray flesh covered in mouths, eyes and various kinds of limbs. The creature didn't even seem to notice the five heroes and just continued forward as it knocked vehicles out of its path. Fortunately the street was clear of civilians since everyone had managed to escape before the creature arrived.
Shego growled as she ignited her powers and charged forward, having to duck or dodge around a couple vehicles as they came down after being thrown by the creature.
"Shego wait! We have to have a plan of attack for something like this!" Hego called out after his sister; then just sighed and shook his head before taking a more heroic pose. "Go Team Go!"
Since Shego had charged forward first she was the first to reach the creature. As she got close she fired off several of her plasma blasts which impacted at different points on the creature's body. Shego's attack didn't seem to cause any damage at all to the creature however; there were no burn marks, it didn't flinch in pain, no sounds of pain came from any of its mouths. But it did seem to notice something as several of its many golden eyes turned towards Shego and just started at her; Shego just stared back and kept herself ready for whatever this thing would try.
Something drew the creature's attention and its eyes looked upward; flying through the air towards it was a small truck. One of the creature's tentacles shot out and caught the truck then quickly wrapped around the vehicle and crushed it. With a quick whipping motion the tentacle tossed the crushed truck back in the direction it had come from; Hego quickly dodged out of the way as the remains of the truck nearly landed on top of him.
Mego and the Wegos were making their move as well; Mego was coming in from the left while the Wegos were coming in from the right. An insect-like claw swung at Mego, who simply shrunk down and the claw passed harmlessly over him. A large tentacle swung down at the Wegos, but they jumped to the side and engaged their powers as they did so, adding several more Wegos to fray. They continued their tactics. The Wegos continued to dodge and multiply, having a really fun time by the way they were laughing. Mego continued using his power to dodge the creature's attacks, even shrinking down to escape if he was caught in the creature's hold.
As her brothers were drawing most of the creature's attention Shego continued her attack. Since her plasma blasts had failed Shego decided to simply use her claws on the thing and was furiously slashing at the creature. But the most damage Shego was able to do was to put some light cuts on the creature, which sealed back up nearly as fast as she could make them. Shego's attention was then caught by a loud yell from behind her, she turned her head in time to see Hego run up and punch the side of the creature. Much to everyone's surprise, especially Hego, instead of an impact Hego's arm sunk into the creature clear up to his shoulder. Hego quickly pulled back and when he realized he hadn't taken any damage he tried a few more punches, but the results were the same as his first punch. Hego decided to change tactics and tried grabbing onto the creature; however whenever he tried to grab hold the creature's flesh wold simply slip from his grasp.
"It's like trying to wrestle with a slippery pile of dough!" Hego half-growled as he continued to struggle to grab hold of the creature.
"You mean like that stuff Mego tried to make the other night?" Shego smiled mischievously.
"I heard that!" Mego yelled as he jumped over a tentacle.
Hego stepped back and began to look for something that he could perhaps use as a weapon since his fists weren't doing much good. As Hego's focus shifted away from the spot he had been punching the flesh seemed to briefly ripple; then suddenly a massive clawed fist extended out and punched Hego sending the blue and black clad hero flying into a wall. As everyone stared at Hego as he hit the wall the tentacles that had been attacking the Wegos suddenly split into many more and quickly snatched up the twins and their multiplications. A scorpion-like claw slammed down to the ground in front of Mego before he could react causing the ground to break up; Mego lost his footing and fell to ground, hitting his head and becoming dazed. The fist that had punched Hego made a grab for Shego but she was able to jump out of its reach.
Shego began firing her plasma blasts at the tentacles that were holding the Wegos hoping that she could sever them by burning through them, or at least loosen their grip. Shego's flames simply impacted and dissipated the same as they had earlier causing her to growl in frustration; despite this she kept trying, this time focusing on one tentacle to see if they had a limit of how much of her plasma they could take.
As Shego continued to fire an insect-like leg swept up behind her. Shego heard the leg as it brushed the ground and turned her head and spotted it as it was closing in, the action caused Shgeo's aim to veer off the tentacle she had been firing at and her plasma stream stuck a power line. The line was severed as Shego jumped the attack from behind and the sparking power line fell and made contact with the creature. It roared in pain as the electricity surged through it; each mouth seemed to make a different sound, the sounds clashed together and made a horrible noise as the creature jerked away from the source of its pain. But as the creature reacted in pain it dropped the Wegos who immediately recalled most of their multiplications, leaving only half a dozen of themselves to continue the battle.
"So big and ugly doesn't like the shock treatment…" Shego smiled wickedly as she quickly came up with a plan. She then turned toward the Wegos and point towards Mego, who was just starting to recover from his daze. "Get him clear!"
The Wegos nodded and ran over to Mego, picking their brother up before he could even make any sort of protest and quickly made their way over to where Hego was pulling himself out of the wall. As her brothers got clear Shego ran towards the fallen power line, dodging swipes by various limbs of the creature. Careful not to get shocked herself Shego grabbed hold of the power line a short distance away from the severed and sparking end then began swinging it around. Shego released the line and let it fly towards the creature before it could land an attack; the line tangled around a few of the creature's limbs as they reached for Shego before the end of the line made contact. The creature once again roared in pain as electricity surged through its body, Shego got herself clear as it began to trash around. Eventually the creature managed to throw the line off but then fell silent and moved no more.
"Great work Shego!" Hego grinned proudly and he as the others walked up to Shego.
"Not too bad sis." Mego had a slight smile on his face.
"Way to go!" The Wegos held up their hands expectantly.
Shego rather reluctantly held up her hands so that the twins could give her a high-five, though she had a small smile on her face as she did so. "Yeah warm fuzzy feelings all around. Now let's get out of her since there's nothing else for us do."
There was suddenly a hissing sound filling the air and the group spun back around towards the creature where the sound was coming from. Steam was pouring out of the creature's body and it was getting smaller, the various limbs and the many eyes and mouths were retracting back into the central mass. There were cracking and grinding sounds as the body began shifting and rearranging itself in to a more humanoid form as it continued to get smaller. The creature's color began to lighten and became a normal human flesh tone as its form became fully human in shape and size.
Shego's eyes widened in shock as she stared at what was now an unconscious teenage boy laying on the ground before them. "No…"
"Shego?" Kim called the pale woman's name, concern filling her voice since Shego had become so unresponsive. "Shego are you okay?"
Shego's eyes turned towards Kim; though she really didn't seem to be looking at the red-haired girl, her eyes seemed to be seeing someone else entirely. But then Shego blinked several times and an expression of rage than was so familiar to Kim appeared on her face. Shego quickly spun around to face Hego.
"He can't be back! He's gone, as in forever!" Shego snarled. "They neutralized him! Rendered him inert they said! You know… Dead!"
"I know Shego, we thought that too." Hego said in a calm voice, trying not to anger his sister further. "But a few days ago we got a message from them saying that Freak-Out had escaped and that we should be on the lookout just in case, seeing as how we were the ones that dealt with Freak-Out in the past."
"So they were lying back then… I should have known." Shego mumbled to herself and continued to curse under her breath.
"We knew you'd want to know about this so we've been trying to get in contact with you." Hego continued his explanation, giving no indication that he had heard Shego. "And well, we just couldn't get in touch with you."
"Really Shego, after we tried so many times one would think you'd at least be curious about what we were calling about." Mego commented dryly.
"So you went and called her in." Shego motioned towards Kim; who was standing off to the side with Ron and simply listening to the conversation in an attempt to gain a further understanding of what was going on.
"Actually that was our idea." Wego1 admitted.
"Yeah, Kim was the only one we could think of that sees you on a regular basis that would be willing to help us." Wego2 explained further.
"Well we've said what we came to say, we'll be getting out of your hair now." Hego said as he, Mego and the Wegos began to walk back towards the Go Jet, but he turned back towards Shego for a moment with a small smile. "It really was great to see you again and know you're well."
"And where do you think you're all going?" Shego asked in a serious tone.
"Back home obviously." Mego replied without even turning back around. "Get back to being on the lookout for Freak-Out and all that."
"You guys can do whatever." Shego said as she started forward towards the jet, quickly walking past her brothers. "I'll be the one looking for him."
"What about us?" Ron quickly asked. "I don't want to be left here at Drakken's."
"You've done what they asked so your mission's done." Shego answered him in a rather dismissive tone. "I'll dump you two off in Middleton before going to Go City, I don't want to waste anymore time than I have too."
"Then don't take us back to Middleton if you don't want to waste time." Kim suggested, then smiled. "We'll do all we can to help you." Kim's offer to help cause Ron to give her a strange look.
"This doesn't involve you Kim." Shego told her in a cool tone lacking any of her usual sarcasm or anger. "I don't need your help and I don't want you getting in my way. So just leave it."
"You know I just don't leave things Shego." Kim said firmly. "I'm already involved with this so you may as well accept that I'm going to help. Even if you drop us off in Middleton I'll just call in a ride over to Go City anyway."
Shego just narrowed her eyes at Kim then spun back around and resumed walking back towards the jet "Let's move people, or you will be left behind!" Shego called out to get everyone moving since her brothers had stopped walking when Shego indicated she was coming with them.
"R-right." Hego shook off his brief shock and turned towards the rest of his team and smiled. "Let's go Team Go."
The group quickly boarded the Go Jet and took their seats; Shego taking the pilot's seat, Hego sitting next to her in the co-pilot's seat, then Kim, Ron, Mego and the Wegos squeezing into the passenger seat. Everyone barely had time to get settled in their seats before Shego started up the jet and took off, leaving Drakken's island behind and vanishing into the distance.
Silence filled the air of the jet's cabin, Shego seemed focused on piloting while everyone else seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Ron couldn't stand it, if no one else was going to break the silence he'd do it himself.
"Well this is sure cozy." Ron said with a grin, but no one even reacted to what he said. Since trying to make idle chitchat failed Ron decided to ask the first question on his mind. "So… who or what is this Freak-Out?"
"A monster." Hego said seriously.
"Name pretty much says it all." Mego commented offhandedly.
"He's a shape-shifter." The Wegos answered.
Shego glared at her brothers, especially at Hego, and raised a glowing hand; the four immediately went silent in response to Shego's unspoken threat.
"Oh come on Shego." Kim said in a slightly exasperated tone. "We're going to have to know more than that if we're going to help."
"I already told you I don't want you help and that it's none of your business Princess." Shego shot back. "If you don't like it then you can just get lost and stay out of my way."
"Fine, if that's the way you want to play it then I'm game." Kim stared back defiantly
Shego stared back at Kim for a moment before turning back around to focus on her piloting, a small smirk appearing on her face as she did so.
xxxxxxx
The group quickly exited the Go Jet as soon as they touched down at the Go Tower; those that had been in the passenger seat were glad to be able to stretch out their limbs again. Without saying a word Shego began to make her way across the hanger.
"Wait up Shego." Hego jogged after Shego. "We definitely need some sort of strategy here, I think we…"
"Whoa there Hego." Shego cut her brother off. "As I said earlier you guys can do whatever you want; I'll be looking for him, and I'll be doing it my own way." Shego's voice had a note of finality that caused Hego to drop the subject.
Shego continued over to the far side of the hanger and stopped next to a large door hatch in the wall, after she hit a few buttons on a small keypad near the hatch the door slid upward with a hiss. A strange vehicle was revealed to be behind the door. The central part of the vehicle resembled a large three-wheeler with high-tech styling; over the front wheel was a passenger compartment with a large light on each side, and in the back was another, somewhat larger, passenger compartment supported on two more wheels. The vehicle was mostly white, but various parts were painted green, blue, purple and red.
Shego walked up the vehicle and ran her hand over the surface, wiping off a layer of dust that had accumulated from being in storage for so long. Shego just shook her head and cleaned the dust off the central seat before hopping up in the driver's position. She began flipping switches and slowly the lights of the console came to life; Shego then hit a large central button and the engine roared to life, the vibration of the engine sending the dust up in a cloud around the vehicle. Shego smiled and began to rev the engine, but her smile quickly became a frown as an unwanted passenger jumped into the front compartment.
"What do you think you're doing?" Shego asked as she glared down at the redhead in front of her.
"You did say something earlier about the rest of us doing whatever we wanted." Kim smirked as she looked back up at Shego. "And as I said earlier I'm going to do what I can to help with this mission so I'm going with you."
"If you think that you can just… Hey!" Shego started on Kim but quickly whipped around as Ron was getting into the back of the vehicle.
"Hey this is pretty comfy." Ron grinned as he relaxed in the back seat; Rufus quickly jumped out of his pocket and joined Ron in his relaxation.
"Get Out Now!" Shego ordered and ignited her fists for emphasis. "Otherwise I am going to blast you out!"
"Shego, the longer we argue about this the more time is wasted." Kim responded in a calm and serious tone as she returned Shego's stare. "So can we please just get moving now?"
Shego growled and looked like she was just going to blast Kim anyway, but the glow around her fists faded and she put her hands back on the controls. Kim was slammed back into her seat and Ron nearly tumbled out as the vehicle suddenly shot forward; Shego gave a wicked smile as they exited the Go Tower.
Kim saw that they were heading straight for the edge of the island and the water beyond. She figured that the vehicle had some sort of aquatic feature or could maybe even fly, but she was getting slightly worried as Shego wasn't making any moves that could activate a special feature like that. When they hit the water Kim only felt a slight bounce with no loss of speed as they continued out over the surface. Taking a quick look below Kim saw the bottom of the tires were just above the water, though they continued to turn as if they were on dry land and water was being thrown up behind them in their wake.
"Get a little worried back there Pumpkin?" Shego asked in a playful tone.
"Of course not." Kim told her with a confident look on her face, but her voice sounded slightly annoyed.
"This is badical!" Ron had his hands up in the air as he cheered, Rufus mirroring the motion from his shoulder.
"Isn't it though?" Shego agreed, though she found it a bit odd she was agreeing with the blond boy.
"So where did this thing come from?" Kim asked as she began to enjoy the ride.
"We found it actually." Shego answered. "It was a pretty routine mission; something was going on out a nearby archaeological dig and some people needed saving. During the fight a rock formation got broken up and we found this buried inside the rubble. We took it back to the tower, cleaned it up and it stayed with us after that."
"Let me guess, it's called the Go Cycle." Kim gave a bit of a laugh.
"Hey, I had nothing to do with it." Shego said defensively. "Hego did all the naming."
Just then they approached shore and the Go Cycle made a slight jump, clearing the docks and landing on the pavement beyond. Shego sped off into the city, weaving through traffic and around people. Kim couldn't tell if the people were more angered or surprised as they made their way through the city, the shouts she heard seemed to be an even mixture of both.
Eventually they came to a stop in front of a rather old looking house sitting between a pair of apartment buildings. The house was in a state of disrepair; the paint was faded and a shutter of an upper floor window was hanging at an awkward angle, the front lawn was so overgrown that it was difficult to tell where the path leading up to the front door was. Shego shut down the Go Cycle then jumped down to the ground and began making her way to the house, Kim and Ron looked at each other then hopped out and quickly followed Shego.
"And we're here why?" Kim asked as they waded through the overgrown grass.
"Because this is where I want to start that's why." Shego answered as they reached the front porch and walked up the steps.
"So now what?" Ron wondered aloud as they stopped at the door. "You gonna break down the door or something?"
"Not if I don't have to." Shego replied as she reached for the plaque that had the house number on it and spun it on its side, revealing a small hole behind it. She reached in and pulled out what she had expected to find there, a key. "Figures… Why was I the only one who could ever remember about this thing? And I didn't even live here." Shego said more to herself than Kim or Ron.
Shego unlocked the door then replaced the key in its hiding place and walked in with Kim and Ron right behind her. The inside of the house was in better condition than the outside but everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Kim and Ron were looking around cautiously but Shego had a distant look in her eyes, like she caught up in some memory, but a serious look replaced it as she turned to face to pair.
"Stoppable you go check the basement, go through there and it'll be the door on the right." Shego pointed to where she wanted Ron to go. "Kim you can look around this floor. I'll be looking upstairs."
"Hold on a minute Shego. Just what are you…" Kim began as Shego started walking away, but found herself cut off.
"You said you wanted to help. So stop wasting time and do what I say, that's how you can help." Shego said firmly as she looked back over her shoulder. "But if you're just planning on wasting time and getting in my way you can just leave right now."
"But why do I have to go down into a dark basement?" Ron asked in a slightly whining tone. "What if there's something down there?"
"Then I'm sure we'll hear about it when you scream." Shego smirked as she walked away.
Kim put a hand on Ron's shoulder to give him some encouragement as Shego headed up the stairs.
"Boy am I glad to be out of that place and back home." He said as he came in through the door, spinning around once as he did so. "I was getting tired of all those tests; the poking, the prodding, not to mention all the needles."
"What? Did you think they were actually going to just let you walk off after that? They had to check for side-effects and such." She just shook her head as she followed him in, but then smiled. "But they didn't find a thing; no mutations, no genetic damage, no genetic anomalies. Didn't find a single thing wrong with you; well genetically speaking anyway."
"Hey! I just embrace my abnormalities that's all." He replied as he started up the stairs and then spun around once he was halfway up. "Think how much more interesting the world could be if more people got in touch with their inner weirdness." He grinned and spun back around, but lost his balance and flailed his arms around as he began to fall backwards. "Whoa!"
She immediately sprang forward with her hands outstretched and caught him before he could fall completely. "Careful there weirdness boy, I don't want to have to haul your butt back to Doc's already." She pushed him back up into a standing position. "And I really don't want to have to explain to your Aunt and Uncle how I let you crack your skull open just after you got home."
"Sorry about that," He laughed. "I'm just happy all that's over with."
"Yeah, it's all over." She smiled.
"But it wasn't over…" A pained look came over Shego's face as she came up to the second floor.
Shego made her way slowly down the hallway, looking into the empty rooms as she passed by them. The dust that covered everything showed that nothing had been disturbed for a long time; the only marks in the dust were the footprints Shego was leaving as she walked down the hall.
Shego reached the end of the hallway where there was a closed door; she opened the door revealing another staircase beyond. Going up the stairs Shego entered into the loft; she paused and looked around the room, a distant look in her eyes appearing for a moment. Shego walked further into the room, running a hand along the wall as she did so.
"It should be just about here." Shego lightly hit her fist against the wall and a panel swung open. "Bingo."
In the space behind the panel was a small set of shelves. The shelves were filled with various things; books, cards, photos and different trinkets. Shego pulled a book off the bottom shelf and opened it revealing pages full of photos taped in. Shego's expression softened and a small smile appeared on her face as she flipped through the photo album. When she finished flipping through the album Shego tucked it under her arm and closed the wall panel.
"Seems he hasn't been here." Shego thought aloud. "Time to move on."
Shego went back downstairs and found Kim standing in the front room looking out the door watching the traffic go by. She turned as she heard Shego coming down the stairs.
"I didn't find anything, even though I didn't know what I was looking for exactly." Kim smiled wryly. Then she spotted the album under Shego's arm. "Where did you get that?"
"I'm not stealing it if that's what you're thinking." Shego said as she gripped the album tighter. "I can't steal something if it already belongs to me, partially to me anyway."
Before Kim could try and ask more questions Ron came stumbling into the room trying to wipe something off his face. "Eeewwww… There's nothing but cobwebs down there, and now they're all over me."
"Well we're done here," Shego told them as she pointed towards the door. "Time to go."
The three headed out and Shego closed and locked the door behind her. They were walking back to the Go Cycle when a multi-colored van pulled up beside them.
"Told ya she'd come here first." Wego1 said as he leaned out the window.
"It was pretty obvious really." Wego2 agreed.
"What do you guys think you're doing?" Shego frowned at the sight of her brothers. "I thought you'd be staying at the tower."
"Well we talked it over and decided that we really wanted to help you, you're our sister after all." Hego smiled as he answered.
"And like Possible brought up earlier you did say we could do what we wanted." Mego commented with a slight smirk.
Shego just rolled her eyes knowing that arguing with her brothers would be useless, especially with Kim right there to join in for her brothers' side. Without saying anything more Shego walked back to the Go Cycle and climbed on, Kim and Ron quickly resumed their previous positions on the vehicle. Before driving off Shego leaned back and opened up a hatch in the rear passenger compartment and slipped the album in.
"Don't even think about it Stoppable." Shego warned as she saw Ron staring at the album as she closed the storage hatch. "You or your little rat so much as touch it and you will be kissing the pavement."
Ron quickly scooted as far back as he could get and smiled nervously. Satisfied with the result of her threat Shego started up the Go Cycle and they were quickly off to their next destination with her brothers in the Go Van following along behind.
xxxxxxx
"Let's see…" Ron mused as he ate a naco. "We've been by; that house, an old warehouse, the mall, an arcade, that theater, the park…"
"You know, the only reason I even stopped at Bueno Nacho was that I thought you would stop talking if your mouth was otherwise occupied." Shego said in a cool tone as she listened to Ron.
"Ron mastered being able to eat and talk at the same time long ago." Kim sighed. "You learn to live with it, eventually.
"It's a talent." Ron said proudly as he continued to eat.
"I'd prefer to not to have to learn to live with it." Shego grumbled.
So where is our next stop anyway?" Kim asked as she looked around.
"Right here." Shego answered as she made a sudden turn and maneuvered the Go Cycle into a parking lot, a sign identified the nearby buildings as Go City High School. Shego sighed as she looked over the area that composed the school. "I swear this place hasn't change one bit."
"Whoa… That's a big school." Ron said with a bit of awe in his voice.
"Yeah," Kim agreed. "You could probably fit about four or five of our school here."
"It's just a school, no need to get so worked up about it." Shego said as she stepped off the Go Cycle.
"Are you sure you want to stop here Shego?" Hego asked, sounding a bit nervous, as he pulled up in the Go Van.
A frown appeared on Mego's face as he looked at the school. "I never thought I'd have to set foot inside this place again."
"Then don't come in, simple as that." Shego said matter-of-factly, then glanced at Hego. "Actually Hego you should probably just stay out here anyway. If Thorn's still principal she's going to tear into you with that mouth of hers." She then smiled. "Although that might be pretty entertaining to watch."
"Perhaps it would be the wise choice for me to remain out here." Hego nodded as he looked up at the school. "Very well, I'll stay out here and keep an eye on the vehicles. I'll listen to the scanner too just in case the city needs Team Go." Hego finished with his heroic voice.
"And I guess the rest of us will be looking around the school… great…" Mego got out of the Go Van with the Wegos right behind him and stepped next to Shego. "So… we check this half of the school while you guys check that half?" Mego asked as he motioned with his hands.
"Sounds like a plan." Shego replied as a frown appeared on her face. "I just hope I don't run into anybody I used to know."
"Same here." Mego agreed.
"This place isn't that bad you two." Mego2 commented as he listened to his siblings.
"Yeah, I think it's great." Mego1 added.
Shego and Mego just stared at their younger brothers for a moment then looked at each other briefly and shook their heads before walking off in opposite directions.
Kim and Ron followed along behind Shego, looking around and taking in the sights around them. The main school building was four stories tall and painted white with blue trim; most of the other buildings were a bit smaller, being only two or three stories tall. Classes were currently in session but quite a few students were staring out the windows at who was walking by.
Kim had found the day to be quite interesting so far; while Shego wasn't answering questions Kim felt that she was getting to know her rival a little better by seeing the places they had visited through the day, places somehow connected to Shego's past. Kim thought she was getting to see another side of Shego as well, though only brief glimpses when Shego's usually fierce expression would soften a bit as they looked around.
"So this is where you went to school." Kim commented as they continued to walk. "It's spankin' I think."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you went here." Shego replied offhandedly. "This place can be a torment like no other."
Before Kim could ask any of the questions on her mind a door the three were passing opened and someone walked out. It was an older woman that had dark hair streaked with white and wearing a casual looking outfit carrying a handful of folders, a teacher Kim guessed. But what really caught Kim's attention was the way Shego and the woman reacted when they saw each other; a slight look of surprise appeared on Shego's face and she stopped walking, the woman just stopped and was looking at Shego with a quizzical look.
"Tasha?" The woman spoke as she looked over Shego.
"H-Hey Mrs. Crystal." Shego spoke after a brief silence. Kim and Ron were shocked to hear Shego actually sound a bit nervous. "It's… It's been a long time."
"Yes, yes it has." Mrs. Crystal replied with a small smile, then she looked at Kim and Ron. "Interesting company you have today. Going by the news reports I thought your relationship was more adversarial than this."
"It's a one time only thing." Shego stated firmly. "I needed to come back because of something; but Possible here doesn't know how to leave things alone, even if they're personal, so she came along too." Kim gave Shego a slightly offended look but Shego just continued. "I didn't want to waste time by taking them back home so I've had to put up with them as I've been looking around."
"What is this 'something' that brings rivals together this day?" Mrs. Crystal inquired.
"Well it's… I'm looking for…" Shego suddenly stopped and glanced back at Kim and Ron, then leaned close to Mrs. Crystal and whispered something to her.
Mrs. Crystal's eyes went wide in surprise as Shego whispered to her. "But I thought he was…" Mrs. Crystal didn't finish.
"Apparently not." Shego gave a brief smile before her face became serious. "I've been looking everywhere I could think of. No luck yet though."
"I haven't seen anything, but I'll be on the lookout now." Mrs. Crystal put a hand on Shego's shoulder and smiled. "I hope you can find him."
"Me too Mrs. Crystal, me too." Shego nodded as Mrs. Crystal began to walk away.
"Tasha." Mrs. Crystal stopped and looked back with a soft smile. "While I don't quite approve of the path you've taken in life I wish you good luck in your search. You and him were two of my favorite students."
"Thanks." Shego smiled back as Mrs. Crystal walked off.
Shego resumed walking with Kim and Ron alongside her, both looking at her rather strangely.
"What was with her calling you 'Tasha'?" Ron asked, sounding rather confused.
"It's my name, my real name." Shego answered, then narrowed her eyes and looked at Ron menacingly. "You have some sort of problem with that?"
"Nope, no problems here!" Ron blurted out as he covered his head and ducked down. "Good name, pretty name."
Shego just stared down at Ron, somewhat amused by his reaction. She then turned her gaze towards Kim. "What about you?"
"I don't have a problem with it either." Kim smiled not wanting to anger Shego, especially while they were in a school. "Like Ron said it's a pretty name." Kim pulled Ron back up into a standing position. "It's just I always thought that your real name would be something closer to Shego."
At Kim's words Shego began to snicker, which quickly became full laughter as she nearly doubled over. After a moment she calmed down and caught her breath when she noticed Kim and Ron starting at her like something was wrong with her. She wiped her eyes and sighed, though she still had a smirk on her face.
"Think about it like this Kimmie; just how well could you keep your secret ID if your hero ID sounds like your real name?" Shego asked rhetorically. "Not that you ever had that problem since you just passed on the whole secret identity thing."
"Well that does make sense." Kim nodded. "So we going to find out the rest of your name?"
"Not if I can help it." Shego answered, sounding a bit annoyed. "You've already heard more than I ever wanted you to hear."
With Shego in the lead the trio started across the sports fields, there were quite a few students about as PE classes were in session. But several students had paused in their activities and were staring at them as they made their way across the field; Shego didn't pay them any mind while Kim just hoped they weren't disrupting things too much, Ron seemed rather flustered as a group of girls were waving at him and giggling.
A brown-haired teen who was jogging by on the track smiled and waved at Kim, who returned the both the smile and the wave. However due to his inattention to where he was going the teen suddenly tripped and ended up facedown on the ground; the next student was too close to avoid him and ended up tripping over the fallen teen, soon followed by another. It was a domino effect and soon several students were on the ground groaning in pain. Kim and Ron winced at the painful scene but kept on walking so they wouldn't cause anything else; Shego just ignored the situation, lost in her own thoughts.
Tasha was walking towards the central school building as she looked around her. "Let's see… If he wanted to make it look like he was heading to the nurse's office but didn't actually go there he probably would have turned right about… here."
Tasha made a quick turn and disappeared from sight around the corner of one of the school buildings, she made her way around behind the building where a grove of trees stood. Tasha entered the grove and began to look around, enjoying being in the shade after having been out in the sun so long for PE class. She finally found who she was looking for, he was leaning against a tree while clutching his chest and had a pained look on his face.
"You doing okay?" Tasha asked as she walked up beside her friend.
"Depends how you define okay." He responded with a pained smile. "So what are you doing here? You worried?"
"Me worried? Nah." Tasha laughed. "It's just that Cassie, Joseph and Sara knew you wouldn't go to the nurse's office even if Coach Thompson ordered you to, so they asked me to find you and check up on you. Seeing as how I was getting bored with class I said I would."
"Your concern is touching." He managed a partial laugh.
"Hey, what reason would I have to be worried? I seen you take much harder hits than that before." Tasha patted him on the shoulder. "I was surprised to see that little trip-up back there take so much out of you."
"Surprised me too." He admitted. "Just having a bad day today I guess. Woke up this morning with my whole body aching, whatever's wrong it was really aggravated by that fall." He started to say something else but instead made and choking sound and wrapped his arms around his body before dropping to his knees.
"Hey! What's wrong?!" Tasha's voice was full of concern as she kneeled down next to him. "That's it! I don't care if you don't like doctors, I'm hauling you to the nurse's office right now!"
As he was doubled over in pain his body began to shake and his eyes seemed to be having trouble focusing. Tasha saw something slowly spreading from under his shirt moving up his neck and down his arms, it was his skin becoming a dark gray color. Tasha's eyes widened in shock and she began shaking her head.
"No, this can't be happening…" Tasha said in disbelief. "They said you were fine… it was supposed to be gone!"
Tasha felt a shove against her stomach and she was sent stumbling back. She managed to catch herself before hitting the ground and spun back around to see that it was his hand that had shoved her back; his hand dropped back to the ground and he looked at her with eyes filled with fear.
"Please Tasha…" He pleaded, his voice having a strange echoing quality to it. "Get away…!"
He screamed as several large spikes of bone erupted from his back and the dark gray completely overtook his skin. Tasha looked on with a horrified expression on her face as her friend's body began to change and his features began to distort becoming twisted and monstrous, his scream of pain became an inhuman roar.
"So just what are we looking for here anyway?" Kim asked, but it didn't seem like Shego was paying attention. "Shego are you even listening?"
"Yes I can hear you." Shego replied in a slightly irritated tone. "We're going right over there."
Shego pointed at a group of older looking buildings that were at the back of the school property, only a few people could be seen going about their business. Ron and Kim followed Shego as she walked between two of the larger building where they found what looked like some sort of small storage building. Shego walked over to one of the windows and reached up and pried it open.
"Wait here." Shego ordered and she quickly pulled herself up and through the window.
Before Kim could object to the order or jump through the window herself she heard the door unlocked form the inside, the door opened and Shego looked out at Kim who was just about to jump through the window herself.
"You're actually opening the door for us?" Kim questioned while giving Shego a strange look.
"Well it was either that or watch him embarrass himself trying to go through the window." Shego looked towards Ron.
"Yeah," Ron sighed. "Going through windows was never one of my strong points."
"So what is this place?" Kim asked as she walked through the door and looked around, seeing dust covered boxes and old school equipment. "Looks like no one's been here in a long time."
"The storage room that time forgot." Ron commented as he walked in; he then reached into a box and pulled out a book, after blowing off the dust he opened it. "History book from 1966."
"It was an escape, someplace to hang out and relax when we wanted to get away from classes for awhile. No one else ever came out here, not even the faculty." Shego told them as she looked around, then sighed. "But obviously no one has been here for a very long time."
"Is there anyplace else we could check? Someplace else a person could go that no one else would look?" Kim asked, hoping that the questions might help Shego figure out her next move.
"Yes there is, just one more place." Shego said with closed eyes, then she opened them and pointed to the door. "Let's go."
xxxxxxx
The Go Cycle was driving through the countryside down an old road that had led out of the city, the Go Van was following some distance behind. Ron had moved to the front compartment with Kim and was enjoying the ride and the feeling of the wind against their faces along with Rufus; Kim was simply leaning back and wondering where Shego was heading for so far outside the city.
As they started over a bridge a sneaky smile appeared on Shego's lips as she glanced back briefly. Suddenly Shego turned the Go Cycle right for the side of the bridge, the vehicle jumped as they went over the side down towards the water below. Kim let out a surprised shriek since she was unprepared for the maneuver while Ron and Rufus were screaming in terror as they fell, Shego simply laughed the whole way down.
There was a massive splash as the Go Cycle hit the water; Kim and Ron were quite surprised that they didn't get soaked, some sort of field pushed the water away and kept the riders from getting wet. With a roar from the engine the Go Cycle shot forward and raised up until it was just above the surface of the water like when they had first left the Go Tower.
"Scare you guys a bit?" Shego asked as she laughed.
"Nearly gave me and Rufus a heart attack!" Ron yelled, which only made Shego laugh more.
"You could have given us just a little warning before you did that." Kim glared at Shego.
"Where would've been the fun in that Pumpkin?" Shego grinned.
"So the whole point of that was just to scare us?" Kim said in an accusatory tone.
"Nah, that was just a little side benefit." Shego smirked and motioned back over her shoulder. "I really wanted to get away from them so they can't follow us to where we're going."
Kim looked back and could see that the Go Van had stopped atop the bridge and Team Go had gotten out and were watching them as they drove off. Soon Team Go and the bridge were out of sight.
It seemed to Kim they drove clear around to the other side of the city and into a nearby forest. Eventually they pulled into a clearing, coming to a stop next to a large hill that was to one side. Kim spotted an opening partway up the hill that was partially hidden by some bushes, Shego jumped off the Go Cycle and began walking up to the opening but stopped in front of the bushes and turned back.
"You two coming?" Shego asked as she began to shove the bushes to one side.
"You actually inviting us this time?" Kim replied with a wry smile.
"Well even if I tell you to stay out here you'd just come in anyway." Shego said matter-of-factly. "So I figure I might as well ask you along rather than just waiting for you guys to sneak in after me."
Kim and Ron grinned and hopped off the Go Cycle then followed Shego through the opening into the tunnel beyond. It was a natural tunnel with moss covered walls that extended quite a ways ahead of them, but light could be seen at the other end.
"So… is whatever at the end of this tunnel our last stop?" Ron asked as they began walking down the tunnel.
"Yeah," Shego nodded. "It's the last…"
"What do you think you're doing?! You said you were going to help him!" Shego yelled and pointed to where the other agents were using special equipment to load the capsule into the armored vehicle, the pouring rain turning to ice the instant it touched the capsule's surface. "How's that helping him?!"
"We're helping him no longer be a threat to the city and the people around him." Commander Jackson said as he stared down at her. "It's unbelievable that you people let such a biological threat wander free for so long."
"He's not a threat!" Shego stomped her foot down. "He finally gained control of it! This time he was able to change back on his own without being shocked into unconsciousness!"
"How do you know it was him gaining control? How do you know it just wasn't a onetime occurrence of him retaining consciousness this time?" Jackson asked.
"Well we might have been able to find out if you hadn't come along with those shockers and that freezer!" Shego growled. "Now let him out of that thing!"
"No. The fact that he hasn't broken out proves that the cold has rendered him inert. The bio-morphic entity known as Freak-Out has been neutralized. It is over." Jackson stated as Shego's body was shaking in rage. Commander Jackson turned and began walking away. "I'll see to it that your friend's funeral is fully paid for."
Shego's hands ignited and she screamed in rage as she charged at Commander Jackson.
"Hey a cave." Ron said as they finally reached the end of the tunnel.
"What did you think was back here?" Shego just shook her head.
They entered into a large cavern which was brightly lit by the sunlight coming in through a gap in the ceiling. The floor raised into a step-like formation as it went further back, raising quite high above them. A small waterfall streamed down one side of the steps and flowed out of the cavern down a separate tunnel than the one they had come in.
Shego began making her way up the steps, both walking and leaping as she went, with Kim and Ron quickly following. Once they reached the top they came to a large open area; only the spring the waterfall originated from and a few large rocks interrupted the open space.
"Used to camp out here." Shego commented in a distant voice. "Haven't been by in a long time though."
"Someone has." Kim said as she pointed towards the remains of a campfire near the opposite side of the spring.
"Seems so." Shego said as she walked up to the pile of burnt wood and ash. "This place was clean last time I left it."
As Shego and Kim were studying the remains of the campfire and a few food wrappers around it Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and began sniffing around, he then jumped down to the ground and ran around behind one of the large rocks.
"Hey Rufus, wait up!" Ron called out after him and quickly followed, then came to a stop when he saw what Rufus had found. "Whoa… that's a lot of wrappers."
Rufus picked up a wrapper from the large pile he had found and shook it a few times. "Empty." He sadly squeaked.
"Hey I know what those are!" Ron snapped his fingers as he remembered. "Go Go Bars!"
"What Bars?" Shego arched an eyebrow as she walked over.
"Go Go Bars, new official candy of Go City." Ron answered. "They were supposed to be released about a month ago."
"Supposed to?" Kim wondered as she looked down at the pile of wrappers.
"Night before they were supposed to start shipping nationwide the warehouse got cleaned out." Ron explained. "From what I've read they still don't know what happened."
"Really…" Hearing of this reminded Kim of a similar incident she knew of and she began to think the two might be connected.
Shego picked up a wrapper and read it over. "Yeah, with that much sugar people are going to be 'Go Go' alright." She then spoke under her breath. "And it's something he'd probably enjoy pigging out on. Hmmm…" Shego looked towards Kim and Ron "We're done here"
xxxxxxx
The Go Jet was parked out front of the Possible household; Kim, Ron, Shego and Hego stood on the sidewalk while the rest of Team Go waited in the jet.
"Team Go thanks you for your help Kim Possible." Hego smiled and shook Kim's hand.
"Alright Hego you've thanked her, now you're done." Shego told her brother as she pushed him back towards the jet, then looked back at Kim. "There we've brought you home, so mission over and done with. At least as far as you're concerned."
Kim just sighed, knowing that it was pointless to argue. "So what are you going to do now Shego?"
"I still have some stuff I need to do before I'm done. Which I'll be doing alone." Shego said as she looked at Kim, then glanced back towards Hego for a moment before looking back at Kim. "So just leave it and stay out of my business."
Shego turned and walked back towards the Go Jet, followed by Hego as he waved goodbye to Kim and Ron. As Shego walked underneath to board the jet and couldn't see what they were doing one of the Wegos held up a hand near his ear and silently mouthed 'we'll call if anything happens' while the other gave a thumbs up, Mego even gave a slight nod. The three were already back in their previous positions as Shego and Hego walked in and took their seats. Shego powered up the Go Jet and took off into the darkening evening sky, Kim and Ron waved until the jet was out of sight.
"Is it just me?" Ron began as he lowered his hand and looked towards Kim. "Or were we not looking for a super-villain/monster-thing that it seemed like at the beginning?"
"More like a missing person search instead." Kim nodded. "Even if Shego didn't want us to know exactly who."
"Well that's Shego for you." Ron shrugged. "We didn't even know about her brothers until we ran into them during that Aviarus power stealing plot thing."
"Well I think we'll do a bit of digging this time and see if we can figure out what's going on." Kim said as she pulled out her Kimmunicator and tapped the call button, Wade appearing on screen as soon as she did so. "Evening Wade."
"Evening Kim." Wade greeted back. "How'd things go with Team Go and Shego?"
"It was interesting to say the least." Kim replied with a smirk. "Wade, can you do a bit of digging for me?"
"Sure thing Kim." Wade smiled. "What do you need?"
"I need you to find out as much as you can about somebody known as Freak-Out and any connections between him and Team Go." Kim told him, then thought a moment. "And if you have time could you check for any incidents similar to the candy and grocery stores from yesterday? Happening from Go City to here, starting from about a month ago?"
"No problem Kim, I'll get on it right away." Wade told her as his hands began to fly over his keyboard as he got to work.
"Please and thank you." Kim smiled before the screen turned off; she put the device away as she turned to Ron. "Well now all we can do is wait until something comes up."
"I'm sure something will pop up soon KP" Ron told her. "Always does."
"So you staying for dinner?" Kim asked as she motioned towards her house.
"I was hoping you'd ask." Ron grinned. "I'm always ready for a meal with the Possible Clan. How about you buddy?"
"Dinner! Yum!" Rufus cheered from Ron's pocket.
Kim just smiled as they walked towards her house; but she found her thoughts drifting back to all they had done and seen over the day, sorting through the events and trying to piece it all together.
To be continued...
Author notes: I was inspired to give Shego's actual name as Tasha by Trackula's KP fic "Small Surprises, Big Consequences" which you can find over at (/u/286234/Trackula) Good stuff, check it out.
The Go Cycle was inspired by DC's Super Cycles, particularly the one from Young Justice.