Author's note: Another chapter! Yeah, I'm on a roll this week!
"Agent Winston, report!" Will said as he entered the room, followed closely by Kim, Ron and Rufus. The agent standing by the console assigned to the lead agent got up immediately.
"Sir, about two minutes ago, a hostile force of about fifteen made a direct assault on HenchCo headquarters, specifically the loading bay area. Our agents have thus far been able to contain them in the adjoining warehouse." Winston moved over and let Will take the seat. The monitors all over the control room displayed different views from all over HenchCo. Will leaned forward.
"Is Hench secured?" He asked.
"Yes, sir. Five agents are protecting him in his office and his emergency escape tunnel is secure", Winston replied.
"Thus far. No sign of any other hostile forces?" Will eyed the monitors showing the outside. It didn't seem like any others were coming.
"No, sir. They forced the gate with a truck and kept going, there was no subterfuge going on."
"Aren't you gonna try to get the people out of there?" Kim asked. She was watching different monitors of HenchCo employees running around in hallways and hiding behind furniture. Thankfully, the workers in the loading bay and warehouse seemed to have gotten away.
"Evacuating them would require our agents to leave the warehouse, I can't let them do that", Will replied.
"You can't be serious", Ron replied, clearly bothered by Will's words. "I know they work for Hench, but you can't let them-"
"I can't let my agents fall back, not yet!" Will almost yelled.
"What about Hench's... henchmen?" Kim broke into the conversation again. "Can't they be of any help?"
"They're not trained for the type of crowd control an evacuation would require", Will replied.
"Then tell them to fight Drakken's guys instead! They should know how to do that, right?" Kim raised her voice as she spoke. Will looked over at seemed to contemplate. He picked up his bluetooth earpiece and activated it.
"This is Du to Hench Control, over."
"Copy, agent Du. Your orders?" Kim and Ron watched as an agent who was in the room with Hench replied Will.
"Take the Henchmen and go down to the warehouse to assist our squad, copy?" Will spoke. The agent on the other line responded with a curt "understood".
"Du to Agent Miller, what's your status?" They couldn't see anyone of the cameras responding, but they heard a response.
"This is Miller, sir. We're holding them back as best as we can, but this is a big ware house. We got two agents down but not out, one agent missing. Agent Donahue says he saw Shego enter last, these other guys are synthodrones, sir." The agent on the other end of the line was clearly under a lot of stress, and everyone could hear the sound of gunfire on his end.
"Understood, Agent Miller. I've sent down Agent Allerdyce with Hench's guys to help you out. When they get there, you send Allerdyce and five- no six of your agents into the main building to get the employees out, understand?" Will finished. Miller replied with a quick "understood".
"Good choice, Will", Kim said, giving him an appreciative nod.
"Hope so, Ms. Possible", Will replied, before looking at the monitors again. Ron whistled almost inaudibly and leaned closer to Kim, whispering.
"Man, synthodrones versus henchmen. This could be the quickest fight ever or the longest one ever. And I don't have any idea of who will win! I mean... both sides are lousy!" Kim couldn't help but snicker at Ron's comment.
"Yeah... it's like a snail against a turtle on the 100 meter dash. But then again, if Shego is there..." She paused. "I hope the agents that are left equal one Shego."
Agent Munch sat on the cold warehouse floor, ducked down behind a large crate. He cursed himself for ending up in the position he now found himself in.
When the synthodrones came blasting their way in, he had been hit several times by their energy weapons. Nothing bad, but they had taken out both his radio and his gun with eerily well-placed hits. He had taken a few hits to his chest and arms as well, but with the armour he was wearing, he hadn't been injured as much as getting the wind knocked out of him. But that meant that he had fallen behind the other agents.
And now, he was alone, trapped between the first and second line of Drakken's men, without any weapon and without anyone knowing where he was. He sighed internally.
He noticed, though, that the second line seemed to be past him, or at least would be in a couple of moments. He knew that with his position, his next actions could lead to a Global Justice victory if he could capitalize on it. Taking out a few drones, hopefully get away unscathed...but how.
Suddenly, he realized where he was. This was HenchCo's warehouse, this was where they stored some of the equipment villains and thugs all over the world craved! There had to be something here that he could use!
He looked around. He couldn't search too far away from where he was, which was a problem, seeing as how this wasn't exactly the assault rifle part of the warehouse. He caught sight of one item that was probably his best choice. It was a netgun, which wouldn't do anything to lessen the number of attackers, but could maybe give them an advantage anyhow. The net seemed to be of good quality though, both inflammable and non-conductive. Small favors, he thought as he opened the crate as carefully as he could.
Munch moved his way slowly from his position and looked around the corner towards the loading bay area. There didn't seem to be anyone left over there. Good, that meant that he didn't have anyone shooting him in the back. He took a few breaths too calm himself down. Gathering himself, he rounded the corner and turned towards where the fighting was going on.
What he saw almost gave him a fright. He had managed to get behind Shego! And she hadn't noticed him yet! He raised the netgun slowly and aimed. The gun made a slight noise when he pulled the trigger, and it was enough to make Shego turn around. Fortunately for Munch, she didn't have enough time to get out of they way of the net, as it caught her and sent her to the floor.
Munch ran as fast as he could towards her, and, managing every ounce of strength he could, leaped into the air. His kick caught Shego right in the chest just as she was trying to get up, and the force of it sent her into one of the shelves. She hit her head on it, sending her into unconsciousness right away. Munch drew a sigh of relief. He had just faced the worst challenge of his life so far and come out victorious.
Will grinned as Miller gave him the latest update. He got up from his seat and gathered everyone's attention.
"People! We did good! All synthodrones have been reduced to jelly..." He paused." And I just got word that we've captured Shego!" The roar of approval from those assembled in the control room was a loud one, and Will couldn't help but smile.
"Well done, Agent Du", Kim said, smirking.
"For a professional, she means", Ron added while he waggled her eyebrows. Will's smile grew into a short laugh at that comment, before he caught himself.
"Alright. The team's gonna be back in an hour. I want the Middleton Police department prepared to hold Shego and-"
"Wait, you're not gonna transfer her here?" Kim asked, perplexed. Will shrugged.
"The base was designed for research and communications, not for holding prisoners. We have some cells, but the only one that could really hold her is... occupied at the moment. But the police department has a cell that will do", he answered. Kim noted that Will had avoided saying who was in the maximum security cell. She pondered on letting it go, but...
"Who's in that cell, Will? It can't be anyone more important than Shego, right?"
Will remained silent, not looking at either Kim or Ron. They could see he was getting uncomfortable as he frowned and turned towards them again.
"Listen... this... this wasn't my decision..." He began, but stopped himself. He glanced at Ron.
"No. No, no, no, you are not telling me that-" Ron spoke, Kim's gaze shifted to him. His eyes were filled with seething rage. Kim looked back at Will, who avoided Ron's look, but nodded.
"You've got... Monkey Fist... in a cell... here in Middleton? My HOME? MY GIRLFRIEND AND BABY'S HOME?!"Ron took a step forward, but Kim reached out and took his hand before he got any closer to Will. When he looked at her, she could see a shade of blue flashing in his eyes. His monkey power was flaring up, but he calmed down when he looked at Kim. As he did, Will spoke up.
"I know.. We knew that you wouldn't be happy with it, but we have our reasons for holding him here."
"And just what reasons were those, Will?" Kim spat at him. "Why are you holding the same guy who almost killed me, Ron and our baby here, of all places? What if he got away?" Will sighed.
"First of all, he's heavily sedated and in restraints at all times, there's no way that he can escape. Add to that, both of his feet are amputated, so even if he got out of the restraints, he would be easy to catch. As for why we're holding him here... Do you remember that drug that he took, Endentin?" Kim and Ron nodded. It had been stolen from the Fossing Corporation, along with the Dellocain that had almost killed Ron when Killigan had used it.
"He took it to make himself grow more muscle, but what does that have to do with you holding him here?" Kim responded.
"Well... the reason for why the drug was discontinued was that it led to enraged behavior in almost 85 of the lab rats it was tested on. In the case of humans... well, Monkey Fist is the only one that has taken it, and he's.. well, to put it mildly, completely insane."
"As if he wasn't before!" Ron remarked sharply. Will nodded.
"Whatever his problems were... the Endentin made it worse. He's frothing at the mouth mad now, not the standard diabolical scheming insane he used to be. We suspect that it was the drug that led to him kidnapping you that time."Ron frowned.
"If you're trying to tell me that he's gonna be declared not guilty by reason of insanity-"
"No chance of that," Will interrupted Ron. "We got him on more than just the kidnapping. And anyway... we're not even sure if we can bring him back to his usual state. That's why we're holding him here, to see if we can find a cure."
"I say leave him where he is", Ron muttered. Kim squeezed his hand, while Rufus climbed up Ron's side to end up on his shoulder, gently patting his friend on the cheek to calm him down. Kim looked over to Will again.
"So... shall we go over to the police station then?" She asked. Will frowned.
"You're coming?" He asked.
"Hey, if you think you're gonna get her to talk, you're in for a big letdown. She won't talk to any agent or cop. But she'll talk to me. She always talks to me. No matter how many times I tell her to shut up."
They arrived at the station 15 minutes later. On their way there, Will had tried to impart some lessons on how to interrogate a prisoner, and he could only hop that Kim took the lessons to heart. They checked out the cell and waited for Shego to arrive. 45 minutes later, she did.
She hadn't put up much of a fight while she was being transferred. The agents on the scene at HenchCo had managed to secure her with all kinds of handcuffs and footcuffs They had even put on her specially designed ceramic gloves that prevented her from igniting her plasma fire. Kim was not used to seeing Shego this... confined. She shivered a bit as she was brought into the cell and made to sit down on the other side of the table. Shego grinned as they fastened her to it.
"Well, well. The Princess is here. Can we get some coffee in here so that we can have a nice conversation?"Shego said, smirking. Kim tried to look as if she wasn't bothered by the situation.
"Maybe later, Shego. But right now, you're gonna talk."
"About what, Princess? Wanna reminisce about the old times?" Shego replied.
"About Drakken's plan. What's he up to?" Shego leaned back as Kim spoke.
"Don't know really. I think he's just bored, really."
"Bored? He's killed or injured agents of Global Justice, not to mention WEE, Dementor and HenchCo!" Kim spat out. Damn it, she couldn't let Shego get to her!
"Ok, so maybe he's trying to settle some old scores? Maybe..." Shego said, leaning back in, "You should watch your back. He might be coming for you next, Princess." Kim frowned.
"So you're saying you don't know what he's planning. Seems a bit out of character for him, doesn't it?" Kim asked, leaning in.
"He talks a lot, yes... but not about everything", Shego responded. Kim leaned back again.
"You have any ideas, any theories?" Kim asked.
"As if I would tell you that, Princess. Did you honestly think I would say anything that would help you?" Shego scoffed.
"I suppose I didn't", Kim said. Slowly, she stood up. Her pregnant belly made it a bit straining, and she had to take an extra breath as she got up. Shego stared at her with contempt.
Kim bit her lip as she walked around the table, her hands in her pockets, looking a little dejected.
"You know, Shego... All things aside... we do have a lot of history..." She took a breath. "So I hope you understand me when I say that... If I'm wrong about this, I'm sorry."
"Shego tried to turn around at Kim's words, but the restraints held her back. She couldn't see when Kim came around the way she wasn't looking. Suddenly, Shego's right arm exploded with pain, She looked over and saw Kim, who had moved away. She was holding a small pen knife.
"What the-" Shego began, but stopped as she looked down on her arm. Green goo was flowing out of a cut just below her elbow. "DAMN YOU!" She screamed as the synthogoo flowed out and left her a withered husk. Kim dropped the knife on the floor just as Ron and Will came running in. The whole thing had happened too fast for them to get into the cell any faster.
Ron reached her first and embraced her tightly, breathing heavily. Will leaned down and picked up the knife.
"This is MY knife, Possible! What made you think that you could just take it and... and.." He was at a loss for words.
"Will... I didn't plan this, I was just... I was afraid that if she got loose... I needed something to defend myself with. I can't fight all that well with the baby riding shotgun." She looked back at Ron, who was finally returning to his senses.
"Kim..." he began, almost sniffling.
"So not the drama, Ron", Kim said before he could get anything else out. "I know how to handle a knife, it's a part of a couple of the martial arts I know."
"But... but you..." Ron tried, but Kim pulled him in and gave him a big kiss before he could get anything else out. When they leaned back out, he could only smile. "Well, ok, then, he said", softly.
"More to the point", Will broke in, "How did you know she was a synthodrone?" Kim shrugged at Will's question.
"Well, I guessed that you hadn't been able to scan her like you scanned us, right?" Will nodded. There hadn't been time, and since this... Shegodrone wasn't being brought to the GJ base, they would have had to bring the equipment with them. He cursed himself for not remembering to do that. Kim continued.
"Well, there were things that just wasn't right about her. She kept calling me Princess, for instance."
"She does that all the time", Ron pointed out.
"Yeah, but she tosses in other things to, like 'pumpkin' or 'Kimmie'. This one just called me Princess over and over, like she couldn't think of anything else." Ron nodded at Kim's reasoning.
"And she didn't even try to take a swipe at Drakken or his plans. She almost seemed to have respect for him. The real Shego would never have that much respect for him not to insult him when I serve her up like that." Ron smiled. True enough. Kim continued.
"And... well.. She didn't even mention me being pregnant. I mean... Would Shego ever miss out on a chance to call me, like, 'preggo' or something if she had the chance?" Even when I got up, she didn't say anything! It was as if she was programmed by someone who had only watched us fight, like once or twice or something and didn't know how she acted around me."
"Oh, you're good, KP!" Ron exclaimed. "A well deserved 'Booyah' to the lady!"
"BOOYAH!" He exclaimed, along with Rufus. Will frowned.
"So, what does this mean?" He asked. Kim sighed.
"I... I think it means... That Drakken might not be behind this.", Kim responded. Will's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "Shego would never let Drakken clone her, regardless of the plan. And if he didn't do this..."
Suddenly, they were interrupted by a sound. Kim couldn't help but smile when she heard it. It was the kimmunicator! She quickly fished it out of her pocket. She had brought it with her when they left to go to the base, and she still carried it around. The image on it showed Wade with a large bandage on his forehead.
"Hey, Kim! What's the sitch?" He asked, grinning.
"Wade! You're ok! Are you feeling alright?" Kim said at the time as Ron.
"I'm a little woozy, but... for the most part, I'm ok", Wade responded.
"Thank God", Kim said. "We were so scared, I don't..." She paused. "It's good to see you", she finished, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Alright, I get enough of that from my parents. Anyway, there's been a hit on your website!"
Kim frowned at her former teammate's words.
"Are you sure you're ok, Wade? You took down the site, remember?" Wade shrugged.
"I kept it up so I could help people get in touch with someone who could help them, in case they didn't know you had quit."
"And you're checking it out from the hospital bed? Dude... you need to learn to relax", Ron said.
"Ron, I've been offline for three days. What did you think I was gonna do when I woke up? Anyway... you need to see this", Wade finished.
The image shifted. Instead of Wade, the screen was now filled with the visages of Drakken, Shego and... Dementor? What the... Kim thought.
"Greetings, Kim Possible!" Drakken spoke, as exuberant as ever. Dementor and Shego... the real one, it seemed, rolled their eyes and sighed at his opening line, but Drakken ignored them. "I think we need to have a conversation..."