CHAPTER 7: Cassandra's Vengeance
Kim's vision was awash in blue light, and she was aware she was falling. The light was blinding and she closed her eyes. As she fell, she began to wonder if she had set the coordinates Wade had gave her correctly. If not, she could look forward to about thirty seconds of simultaneously freezing, burning, asphyxiating, and decompressing to death once she finished this trip.
Her mind began to play back everything that had happened. The heist at Tempex. The note from Senor Senior, Sr. Ron's funeral, the warehouse raid, Shego's visit…it all became a blur in her mind, lost in the flashes of blue light that slipped between her eyelids. The flashes of light began to run together and she became aware of something else, something hiding behind the blue.
This is the way the world ends…
Her eyes flew open as the phrase passed through her mind. The nightmare came rushing back to her, and she realized she actually did see something lurking behind the tunnel of blue light, Something black, cold and relentless. As she watched the shadow behind the light, it suddenly shifted and she knew it was looking at her.
Looking at her with unbridled coldness and cruelty. The rushing of air coalesced into an inhuman howl that made her thrown her hands up to her ears, squeeze her eyes shut, and begin crying out in pain.
The blue flashes of light became to turn black at the edges, and she knew he was about to pass out. The blackness grew inexorably and rapidly, and all conscious thought shut down.
Beware the Timebreaker…
----
Kim's eyes opened to the sight of a canine nose filling her field of vision. She blinked a few times as her brain tried to comprehend what she was looking at.
Comprehension was dramatically assisted when the dog covered her in slobber. Kim squealed in disgust and sat up, wiping her face. The dog barked in surprise and ran off. Kim sat up and looked around. She was sitting on a sidewalk in the warehouse section of Middleton, only about three blocks from Drakken's hideout.
"Nice work, Wade." She said aloud. She looked down at her watch. Ten-thirty AM. Shego said they arrived sometime in the afternoon. I need to get over there and find a place to hide. Hide, wait for Ron and…me, I guess. Then…
Kim reached down and put a hand on her holster pocket. She grabbed the grip of the gun through the fabric, and frowned.
Then…I kill Shego, save Ron, and go home. World is saved, and Drakken loses his best weapon. No big, right?
"Right." She answered out loud. She stood up and started walking towards the warehouse, ignoring the part of her that was screaming that her plan was going somewhere beyond completely whacked.
No sooner had she taken a few steps than there was a sharp pain in her stomach which caused her to wince and double over. She checked herself over, and then smacked her forehead as she realized what was causing the pain.
----
"So that's four Supra-GargantuBurgers, three orders of Mega Rings, three Choco-Whippies, and a Humongo sized cola."
"DIETcola, thanks." Kim said.
"Gotcha," the Burger Duke cashier said, making the correction. "Anything else?"
Rufus popped out of her pocket. "Pie!"
Kim looked down at him and considered for a minute. "Oh, what the hell. Give me six apple pies while I'm at it."
"Okay."
--
Later, fed and ready for action, Kim arrived at the warehouse. She picked the lock on one of the side doors and slipped inside, locking the door behind her.
The warehouse was as large as she remembered it. Apparently, Drakken had already begun to make arrangements to move in. The elephant pen was already in place, and it looked like the cable for the TV had been installed. Illegally, no doubt.
She scanned the area and noticed a catwalk along the outside of the building about twelve feet overhead. It had easy access to the rafters above with a quick leap or grapple shot in the event one or both of them decided to check things out up there.
Kim looked around, located the access ladder for the catwalk and climbed up, retracting the ladder, and took a position on the catwalk where she figured she could watch Drakken and Shego without them being able to see her.
She pressed her back against the wall, and slid down it into a sitting position. She sighed, and rested her head against the wall. It had been a rough day, from her point of view at any rate, and it wasn't over yet.
She reached into her holster pocket and pulled out the gun. She held it up in front of her, and frowned.
You really going to go through with it, Possible? Said a voice in her head. Gonna cross that line?
"I have to. If I don't, Ron's going to die again."
Technically, he hasn't died once yet.
"Whatever!" Kim snapped. "The point is that he'll be dead if I don't do something."
So, you've decided to give Shego the death penalty before she even commits the crime?
"If it means stopping her from committing it, yes."
By that logic, you should take out Drakken while you're at it. That'll teach him for trying to take over the world with plans he hasn't thought up yet.
"Shut up." Kim whispered.
And once Drakken and Shego are dealt with? Why not take out Dementor next? And after him, Monkey Fist, the Seniors, DNAmy…
"Shut UP."
And then after the supervillains, take out the regular criminals. And after that, people who talk on their cell phones in movie theaters. You know what? Why not just kill everybody and annex Poland?
"SHUT UP!" Kim cried. Rufus squeaked and popped out of her pocket.
"Wh' happened?" he said. Kim looked down at him.
"Sorry, Rufus," she said. "Just arguing with myself. Go back to sleep."
Rufus looked at her quizzically then went back into her pocket. Kim leaned back against the wall. She looked back at the gun, then frowned, clicked the safety off and put it back in her holster pocket. She folded her arms, and then made herself as comfortable as possible before closing her eyes for a quick powernap.
The frown never left her face.
--
"OWWWW! SHEGO!"
Kim awoke with a start at the sound of Drakken's shout. She quietly got to her knees and peered over the edge of the catwalk.
The loading dock door was open and a couple of Drakken's nameless henchmen were herding the elephants into the pen. Drakken himself was trying to lift the television off his foot. Shego walked over to him.
"You know, I offered to help you haul this thing in here. But noooo, Drew had to show off how macho he is," she said, lifting the end of the TV off Drakken's foot.
"You know, I didn't have to bring this behemoth here, Shego. I could have just brought the portable." Drakken said as he pulled his foot out from under the TV.
"Yeah, right. Like you'd watch Volcano Island on a screen that small." Shego answered.
Drakken grumbled. "You can't hear the screams decently on the mono speaker on the portable."
Shego hauled the TV over to the stand and hooked up the cable. "So now what?"
"Now, we wait." Drakken said. He turned to the henchmen. "Go back to the lair and wait for my call. I'll need you for clean up later."
The henchmen saluted and left. Shego looked at the elephants and back at Drakken.
"Um, Dr. D? Speaking of clean up, shouldn't we keep a couple of them around in the meantime?"
"What for?" Drakken asked, as he tossed the air mattresses out of the hovercar and hooked up the air compressor. "All they're going to do is stand around all night and demand overtime."
"Yeah, but that only leaves the two of us to deal with the elephant shit." Shego said. "I cannot tell you how many more things there are that I could be doing now, rather than trying to keep elephant shit off my boots."
"A temporary inconvenience, my dear Shego." Drakken said, as he rummaged around in the storage unit of the hovercar. "Once Kim Possible is eliminated, there'll be nothing that can stand in our way. Are those hip waders from the Loch Ness project still in here?"
"You had me throw them out to make room for the Magma Drill." Shego replied. Penned up on the far side of the warehouse were Drakken's fifteen extremely large, extremely muscular, and extremely chromed battle elephants. Shego held her breath and walked over to them, looking at the glue gun Drakken was planning to have her use on Kim Possible.
"This is NEVER going to work," she said to herself. "Never in a million years."
Behind her, Drakken continued working his way through the storage unit., muttering to himself as well. "Hmm…overshoes…overshoes…I know we had overshoes in here last week. What's this?"
As Drakken pocketed the remote, and Shego wandered over to the elephants, Kim glanced upwards towards the skylight in the roof. She could barely make out her earlier self and Ron looking down at the villains.
She swallowed and pulled out the gun. She took aim, lining Shego up with the sight. She stared at the back of Shego's head for a few minutes, following her as she walked back over to the chair in front of the TV.
So shoot her. She's right there. She's not expecting it.
"No." Kim said quietly.
Why not? Shoot her now before the other you and Ron make their move, then time jump the hell out of here before Drakken can do anything.
"I'm not going to shoot her in the back of the head." Kim replied.
You'd rather risk her seeing you coming?
"I'd rather listen to her advice and try to take her out as close to Ron's death as possible. If I hadn't jumped the gun tonight, none of this would have happened."
Interesting choice of words.
"Shut up."
So you're going to listen to the advice of the woman you're here to kill because you didn't listen to her advice in the first place. And by following her advice, you hope to be able to kill her more effectively.
"This isn't about killing Shego. It's about saving Ron."
Is it?
"Yes, it is."
If so, then why didn't you just travel further back in time and prevent you and Ron from coming in through the skylight?
"I'm trying not to screw up time anymore than it already is. Now, shut the hell up."
Riiiight, you keep telling yourself that, Kim. Whatever helps you sleep at night.
The voice shut up, and Kim shifted her position, lowering the gun, but keeping it handy. Waiting for the right time.
--
Three hours later, Kim moved into the rafters as soon as she saw the skylight open, and her other self and Ron begin sliding into the warehouse. She held onto the gun as she did so.
Okay, let's see, she thought, how did this go down? I went after the remote while Ron went to the door…
--
Drakken was sprawled out asleep in his chair, and was indeed snoring loudly. As Kim got closer, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, Shego groaned, grabbed the blanket she was using and pulled it over her head.
"…gonna clear his sinuses with a rusty spoon one of these dayszzzzzz…" Shego murmured before her breathing became regular again. Kim let out a silent sigh of relief, and turned back to Drakken.
His lab coat was open, revealing the black turtleneck he wore underneath it. Kim craned her neck and could make out the edge of the remote hanging out of the lab coat's inside pocket. She took a deep breath, held it, and slowly reached for the remote.
Across the building, Ron was approaching the warehouse door, taking large exaggerated steps. He glanced back and saw Kim freeze as Shego rolled over. He mimicked Kim's sigh when Shego fell back to sleep, then went back to heading for the door.
As he got closer, he felt a sudden shift in weight in his pocket. He looked down, then behind him. Rufus was scampering across the floor towards a large bag of peanuts that had split open near the elephant pen.
Ron clapped a hand over his mouth and gasped, before sprinting across the floor, keeping to the balls of his feet to minimize the sound. He bent low, intending to scoop up Rufus and pull a u-turn back to the door.
--
Ron trips on the peanuts and frightens the elephants, waking up Drakken and Shego...
--
Drakken's eyes widened as he saw a familiar teenage face in front of him "Kim Possible!"
"Collecting unused remotes for the homeless!" Kim said brightly. "Oh, look, here's one."
She grabbed the remote from Drakken's pocket and flipped backwards across the floor.
"SHEGO!"
"There already!" Shego said, bouncing off the air mattress towards Kim, flaring up in midair.
--
Ron somehow releases the elephants…
--
"Oh come on, this is like a bad weekday cartoon!" Ron complained. He stopped running, then dashed off again, finding purchase for a brief second. Right before he stepped on Rufus. Rufus let out a screech, which Ron echoed as he fell backwards, landing on the lever that opened the gate to the elephant pen.
Ron stared up at the fifteen chromed, muscular, and heavily panicked land animals that were bearing down on him. He screamed, sprang to his feet and began running.
--
I destroy the remote and Drakken gets me with his glue gun…
--
As Kim sprang away, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the remote, quickly checked to make sure the safety switch was still engaged, and threw it directly into the path of the elephants. It was caught under the trampling feet of the herd and shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Kim allowed herself a grin. So much for Armageddon.
Suddenly, she heard a sound like "BLORTCH!" and found herself covered in a sticky slimy substance. She lost control of her momentum and skidded into the wall, where she found herself stuck. She looked up and saw Drakken standing before her with his super glue gun.
--
Meanwhile, Ron…
Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard the zipping sound of her grapple gun retracting. She couldn't help but smile as Ron shot into her field of vision, screaming in his inimitable way. She covered her hand with her mouth to block her giggles as she saw Ron scold Rufus and take away his peanut privileges.
You know, she thought, From this side of things, my life can be pretty damn funny sometimes.
All thoughts of humor were quashed, however, when she saw Ron look down and start swinging from the grapple gun, down to provide the distraction that gave Rufus a chance to rescue her other self.
As soon as Ron dropped out of sight, Kim jumped down from the rafters and onto the catwalk, taking aim with the pistol.
She watched as Ron collided with Drakken and Shego. Her finger tensed on the trigger. Drakken sat up holding his head. Ron and Shego kept rolling.
Kim kept the gun trained on Shego's head, waiting for the right moment.
You're better than this, Kim.
Kim's eyes widened as she finally recognized the voice. Her mother's.
She doesn't deserve this, not from you, and you know it. You don't kill people. It's what makes you better than her.
Kim's finger relaxed.
There's always another solution, Kim. Remember what your father always says. 'Anything's possible…'
"…for a Possible." Kim finished quietly.
"GET OFF OF ME, YOU SCHMUCK!"
Shego's cry snapped Kim out of her trance. She looked down and saw them rolling across the floor. Her brain kicked into overdrive. She looked down at the gun in her hand, smirked, and threw it over the side of the catwalk. The gun hit the floor and went off with loud pop.
"What the!" Drakken said, looking around. "Who's shooting?"
"For that matter, who here has a gun!" Ron said, from where he was laying on top of Shego. Shego frowned up at him.
"I don't know, but you have exactly until the count of three to GET THE HELL OFF ME!"
Up on the catwalk, Kim pulled out her grapple gun and aimed for Ron's belt. She fired, and as soon as the hook latched onto the belt, she yanked with all her might.
Sorry about this, Ron. She thought.
Ron suddenly felt a draft as his pants suddenly disappeared. He shot up and off of Shego. "Hey! No fair!"
Shego propped herself up on her elbows and looked around perplexed. As she turned her head, she spotted something that made her eyes widen in surprise. She got to her feet and dove into the hovercar, hitting the switches that activated it.
"Dr. D! Now would be a good time to split!" she said. She pulled the hovercar into a u-turn and tuned it towards Drakken.
"But we haven't destroyed Kim Possible yet!" Drakken complained.
"I wouldn't worry about that right now." Shego said, grabbing Drakken by his collar and dragging him into the hovercar. She gunned the jets and the two escaped through the hole left behind by the elephants. Up on the catwalk, Kim got to her feet and smiled.
"Yes!" Kim said. "Sitch resolved!" She activated the time travel device on her wrist. Better get out of here before Ron notices there's two of me running around. She set the dial for her present and hit the "Activate" button. A glowing blue portal appeared in front of her. She strode confidently into it, feeling outright relieved. As soon as she passed into it, it winked out of existence.
Meanwhile, on the warehouse floor, Ron had located his pants and was putting them on.
"Well, I think that's a record for us in the saving the world thing, don'tcha think, KP?"
There was no response. Ron turned around, looking for Kim.
"KP?"
Kim was slumped against the far wall, lying on the floor. Ron walked over to her. He kneeled down and shook her shoulder.
"Kim? You okay?"
Kim rolled onto her back, and Ron fought to keep his dinner down. He succeeded and cradled Kim's head in his arms.
"Aw, Kim…"
