Chapter 7 Prison
Immediately after the trial, Kim had been lead away by two armed guards, past the crowd in the benches, past the double doors of the courthouse, past the flashes of cameras and squawk of questions... and past Ron who tried valiantly to push his way through the mob, yelling Kim's name.
The officer pushed her head into the back of the squad car when Kim tried to look up and slammed the door behind her. Kim watched as the crowd tossed Ron back and forth, barely letting him advance an inch. Then the car pulled away, and Ron and the rest of the crowd disappeared behind the impartial wall of the courthouse.
Kim's cuffs dug into her wrists, but she tried to settle in the seat and calm her nerves. But where she thought she'd find frayed nerves or panic, there was... nothing. She simply felt nothing about what was happening. She tried to think, to cry, to feel, to care, but nothing came. No tears. No pain. Her whole world suddenly became the back of a worn out squad car.
She felt, perhaps, that this wasn't ideal and maybe expanding her awareness of her surroundings would help. Through the window, buildings, rubble, and the occasional Lowardian walker passed in a blur of activity. None of it helped her get a handle on her current situation. A prisoner. So she just sat and watched the world go by.
After a long while, but what seemed just a moment, the prison came into view. It was a long and flat brownstone building, surrounded by chain link fencing topped with barbed wire and sat in the middle of a forest just outside Lowerton. Their car pulled up to a checkpoint, and eventually pulled up to the front.
Time seemed to pass in a blur. The staff processed her through intake fairly quickly. She barely noticed when they had her strip searched and gave her a set of orange clothes. She simply obeyed when she was told to do something. What else was she supposed to do?
That first day, she didn't process much of anything else. The next, she had fallen asleep in a common room seat, only to be woken by a large, angry woman and her three friends.
They were criminals Kim had brought in herself.
A brief fight and they ran from the room in squeals of pain. Kim went to her cell and went back to sleep, but the following days didn't fare her any better. Fight after fight, she was cornered in the showers, in the halls, or in her bunk. Robbers or henchwomen or other violent types that were more than willing to try and put Kim Possible in her place.
It seemed half the population of the prison had something against her. And each time, the fights grew bigger, the people tougher or smarter. Word was getting around that Kim was putting women down left and right and getting away without a scratch.
It wasn't quite true, though. An inmate had caught her in the eye the other day, and another busted her lip open. Her arms and fists ached from throwing and blocking punches, her sides hurt when she walked, and still they attacked her. Only one time did a guard actually stop one of the fights, and for the trouble, put Kim in solitary for a day. With the bright light constantly overhead, she barely got any sleep.
A guard released her the following morning, and she left for her daily routine. It was a week after her initial incarceration, and prison, Kim decided, did not suit her at all.
She stood in the middle of an empty, patchy field of grass during yard time, gazing up at the blue sky over the treetops. Tall chain-link fencing surrounded the area, and the other prisoners walked along it, giving Kim a wide birth. They were mostly the smaller or non-violent women who thought Kim as violent as the current rumors made it seem. The weathered brownstone prison stood over a hundred feet behind her.
Kim laid down in the grass, and while it wasn't as thickly grown as the college's, she mused that she, at least, still had this small privilege.
"On your feet, inmate."
Kim glanced up. A skinny mustached guard stood over her, indifferent. Kim groaned and pushed herself to a standing position.
The prison guard, in a light blue button up, looked her up and down before nodding. "Stay on your feet or go sit at a bench. Don't make me tell you again."
"Yes sir," Kim said with a roll of her eyes.
"What's that, inmate?"
"I said, yes sir," she said with a bit more sincerity.
He glared, but a fight had broken out near the doors, two inmates pulling each other's hair and trying to wrestle each other to the ground. He glanced at Kim and then spoke into a radio as he jogged over to the fight.
Kim wanly smiled at her luck and turned to walk further into a field. However, a woman who seemed nearly twice her height blocked her path and cast a long shadow over Kim. Big B.
"Uh, hi Big B," Kim said.
"You're Kim Possible, huh?" the woman said, scratching her chin.
Kim knew what was coming, and there would be no avoiding this fight. She groaned; her knuckles still hurt from yesterday. "That's the rumor." She started looking for bruises or cuts she could exploit to end the coming fight more quickly.
"Hear you have a problem 'round here," Big B said. "You don't given anyone here no respect, no -"
Kim waved a hand, craning her neck to look at Big Big's arms. "Yeah, yeah. Look, if it's all the same to you, can we just get on with this?"
The woman grimaced. "I'm going to enjoy breaking your mouth, girl."
Kim ducked under the swing and backpedaled out of reach. She got ready to lunge, but as fast as the fight had begun, Big B's eyes became dazed, her mouth slack.
She toppled over and behind her was a woman with a glowing green hand.
"Hey cupcake. Miss me?"
Kim stared, her mouth hanging open.
Shego smirked and waved a hand in front of Kim's face. "Earth to Kimmie."
"Shego?"
"In the flesh." She gestured down to her orange jumpsuit, messily laid over her normal green and black suit.
The sight didn't make Kim feel any better. "What are you doing here?"
"Enjoying the sights," Shego said sardonically. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm busting you out of here."
"Busting me..." Kim laughed, actually laughed. It was the first time in weeks, and it lifted some of the weight off her shoulders.
"Hey, keep it down or the guards are gonna notice," Shego said. "I paid those two girls to cause a ruckus, but it won't keep their attention for long if you go clucking around the yard like a turkey."
"I do not - wait." Kim glanced back the women still biting, clawing, and pulling at each other. Guards tried to close in, but the crowd around the fight kept them out.
Kim pointed. "You did that? You made them fight?"
Shego shrugged and spread her hands. "I needed a distraction and imprisoned henchwomen come cheap."
Kim turned around. "Guar-mmm!"
Shego came up behind Kim and pressed a hand to her mouth, holding her tight.
"Remember what I said about quiet?"
Kim grabbed the arm holding her head and flipped Shego over, slamming her onto her back. Kim dropped a knee to her chest, but Shego just rolled out of the way before it struck.
"Calm down!" Shego said, springing to her feet and holding up her hands, out of reach. "I just came to ask for your help."
"My help? You're the reason I'm in here!"
Kim charged her, but Shego grabbed Kim and they fell to the ground, Shego pinning Kim to the dirt.
"Norana Umbra is the reason you're in here! Not me!"
"Says the one who helped her!"
They struggled. Kim smelt crushed grass and burnt soil underneath her. The heat from Shego's fists seared into her skin, and rocks jabbed at her legs.
This time, Kim managed to pin Shego to the ground.
"Alright, so I helped her!" Shego said. "She came to me with a plan, I liked it, and I helped her do it. I'm evil, Kimmie, it's what I do."
"What was her plan, Shego?"
Underneath her, Shego grinned. "Help me and I'll tell you everything."
Kim yelled, and raised her fist, but Shego kicked out, sending Kim flying.
"Kimmie, we don't have a lot of time, if you haven't noticed."
A quick sideways glanced confirmed; the fight was broken up, and guards were talking into radios. An alarm klaxon started. The other prisoners got on the ground with their arms and legs spread.
Kim shakily got to her feet.
"Aren't you going to get on the ground?" Shego said, singsong.
Kim growled. She didn't want to get in even more trouble, but there was no way she would go prone with Shego still so near. "Why did you come here? What possible reason did you have to think I would actually work with you?"
Shego looked at her, hand on her hip, as guards started approaching.
"Queenie wasn't supposed to frame me too," Shego said. "I want revenge."
"Fine," Kim said. "Go get it. I'm not helping you."
The guards were dangerously close now. Kim waited for the one nearest her to wrestle her to the ground, but before he could get close enough, Shego blasted him back into the chain fencing with a stream of plasma. Another pair tried to take Shego herself down and met similar ends.
"Okay, how about this?" Shego said. "You stay in here, I go about my merry villain ways and try to get revenge. Meanwhile, Queen Uptight gets to go scot-free for her crimes, all while causing more and more havoc. And trust me, her plans make this seem like a kindergarten picnic. Sound like fun, pumpkin?"
Kim crossed her arms. "I have no reason to believe you, Shego."
"Oh?" Shego said. "Or maybe you didn't notice the video she forged of you planting explosives or the setup we made for you at the warehouse. You really think she went through all that just to get you in here?"
Kim's brain skipped a note as she considered. Since getting in prison, she had thought about nearly nothing else but the evidence against her, but she had assumed that getting Kim into prison would be the end of Umbra's plan. Shego seemed to be implying that this was just the start...
"I still don't believe you," Kim said. "You can just get revenge on your own. You don't need me. This is just another plot to make me look bad."
Shego growled in frustration. Distantly, a helicopter sounded, slowly growing louder. Shego glanced in the direction of it, then stomped straight towards Kim. Kim stood her ground, letting Shego get right in her face.
"We don't have time for this! We've fought together before just fine, and if you haven't noticed, I'm being hunted too!" She growled, her fists shaking, then combed her hands through her hair as she tried to calm down. "Look, I can't... I can't do it alone, alright? I've tried. Umbra's too... good, too well protected. I need... I can't believe- I need help. Alright?"
Kim stared her straight in the eye, passive. She swallowed, and suddenly, the helicopter came over the treeline.
"Kimmie!"
Kim remained motionless, unmoved.
Wind surged downward from the helicopter overhead. "SHEGO," a blare horn said. "STAND DOWN, OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE ACTION."
"Damnit." Shego leaped back from Kim and lobbed two plasma bolts at the chopper, but both went wide. They did give her just enough time to fire a hot blast at the fence. It exploded on contact and made a giant gap in the fencing. Shego took one last look at Kim, gave her a long look, and took off running. Kim watched her go.
Overhead, the helicopter opened fire with some kind of laser weapon, the blasts trailing Shego as she ran towards, and into, the woods surrounding the prison. They hit trees, splintering the wood with a violent crack, making their way deeper into the forest, apparently following Shego.
Behind her, more guards ran up from the building. Kim let them come, still watching the helicopter fire into the forest, the cracking of trees growing more and more quiet.
She felt the ground tremor as guards came up and tackled her to the ground, and all Kim could think about was, if Shego really wasn't lying, then she was letting Umbra get away with who knows what, and there was no one else to stop her.
If Shego wasn't lying.
A cuff closed around one of her wrists and Kim whirled around, her fist catching the guard in the jaw. He collapsed forward, on top of her. She pushed him off just as the other guard was reaching for his radio. She leaped up, and kicked his hand against his shoulder, crushing his fingers against her heel. A roundhouse to another guard's chest sent him flying into the fence, dispatching the last of the guards.
She ran. She leaped over the smoking remains of the fence, diving into the embrace of the surrounding trees, and kept pushing forward.
She tried to keep her bearings as she made her way through, following the path of broken trees, Shego sure to be not far behind.
Tree bark cut into her bare hands and outreaching branches scratched at her face and arms. Her sore feet launched her from root, to rock, to muddy puddle, and she ignored them all. The scent of pine and dew filled her nose, while the droplets soaked through her hair and plastered it to her face and neck.
"Shego!" she called out. "Shego!"
Suddenly, the broken and shattered trees from the gunfire stopped cold. Kim kept running, and a sudden sense of panic rose in her heart. She was running away from prison, and if she was caught, she would probably stay for a very long time. She'd soon have all kinds of law enforcement on her tail, and she had no idea how to evade them. Shego was her only hope.
"Shego!"
As soon as she said it, she broke out into a clearing and skidded to a halt just before a steep drop to another clearing below. Near the far treeline sat Drakken's hovercraft, and just in front of it, Shego, on the ground and surrounded by four armed SWAT officers. The helicopter still flew overhead, ropes leading down from it.
Kim hunched down and crept to the side, where the bank led down. None of the officers, nor the helicopter, seemed to have noticed her yet. She tried not to make a sound and strained her ears over the beating of the helicopter blades.
"Bagged and tagged, sir."
"Get her bound and in a sling. Let's get her locked up."
Shego groaned, and all four officers pointed their rifles at her.
Kim knew an opportunity when she saw it and, without thinking about it, leaped out, roundhousing one, and punching the teeth out of another. The other two raised their weapons, but Kim put one between herself and the other, and twisted his rifle out of his hands, slamming the butt into the side of his helmeted head. Helmet or no, he went down.
The other officer fired off a shot just as Kim ducked, expecting it. She dove forward and jammed her palm into the underside of his chin, and he, too, crumpled.
The first officer stirred, and Kim slammed the rifle into his gut as hard as she could and ran towards Shego, tossing the rifle away.
"Shego! Shego, come on! I don't know how to fly this thing."
Shego stirred but didn't wake up. Kim reached down, hoisted one of Shego's arms over her shoulders, and dragged her body towards the craft. She found a button to lower a ramp, then dragged Shego up. Once aboard, she set Shego down on the floor and took a look at the controls. It didn't seem too complicated. She was sure she could figure it out.
"AUTO-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED."
"WHY IS THERE ALWAYS AN AUTO-DESTRUCT?!"
"... Kimmie?"
From the floor of the craft, Shego held her head and groaned.
"Shego! I don't know what I'm doing and I just hit a button and I need your help to get out of here!"
Beside the hovercraft, one of the guards started to stir. The copter overhead still circled; Kim hoped the overhanging vegetation was enough to hide them.
"Hit the red button," Shego said.
Kim did.
"AUTO-DESTRUCT... CANCELED."
"This is really way too easy to do," Kim said.
"Welcome to my life." Shego groaned and grabbed the side of hovercraft to haul herself up. Kim bent to help her, but Shego flared plasma and Kim backed off.
Once on her feet, she started flipping dials. The craft hummed to life.
"Hold on," Shego said.
"To what?!"
Kim was thrown to the floor as the craft lurched upward, barely missing the helicopter that swerved to get further away. Shego worked the controls and they shot off.
"... they're not going anywhere!" Kim said when the helicopter was keeping up with them.
"This isn't a jet!" Shego said. "Hang on!"
"Again, to wha-" She didn't have time to finish as Shego sent them in a violent turn towards downtown Lowerton.
"Are you crazy?" Kim said. "We'll be seen!"
"Got to get some distance!"
The craft approached the skyscrapers, and Shego flew right between them, the copter not far behind. She slowed, letting the copter gain, then made a hard right down a narrow road.
The copter was forced to fly past. The hovercraft flew low and fast through narrow alleyways until they ran out of alleyways and were forced to rise above the low buildings.
Behind them, the helicopter hovered over the skyline, still looking for them.
"They're gonna see us," Kim said.
"Doesn't matter," Shego said.
Sure enough, the helicopter turned to follow but soon disappeared behind a mountain. As soon as they were out of sight, Shego pressed a button, and the rocky face of a nearby cliff rose, revealing a steel-lined hanger. They flew through, and with another button press, the wall closed behind them. A moment after the wall shut, they heard the helicopter fly close, then fade into the distance.
Kim collapsed into the hovercraft's pod, her hand on her heart. She couldn't see Shego as, once the bay door closed, they were plunged into darkness.
Shego, however, lit up one of her hands and held it aloft.
"Kimmie," Shego said with a grin, "welcome to villainy."
Hey again. Not dead! :D ;P As always, reviews and comments appreciated by all. :)