Chapter 9
Physically, Nathan Porter's most attractive quality was his voice. True, that was an odd choice, but it was what Kim found most delightful. The way it sounded was just entrancing, so to speak. It was deep and soft and kind and determined, all at the same time. His voice disillusioned anyone who heard it come from that mouth. The face did not match the resonating tone. That made him sound years ahead of his time. Kim loved it.
Nathan was a "leg man." He wasn't particularly interested in breasts or stomachs or butts: legs interested him the most. He knew not why, but they did. Still, besides her otherwise perfect legs, Nathan loved everything about Kim. Sure, her voice got a little nasal at times, and that cheerleader-captain attitude wasn't cool every second of the day, but he was still overjoyed that someone found him likable, to say the least. Kim had gone where Monique didn't.
And because of that, Kim had to let Monique know what was going on. She was Kim's friend, and Kim owed her that much. Yes, it would be remarkably difficult to put it into words, and she wished that Nathan would be the one to do it, but it was Kim herself that volunteered to take this leap of faith. It was quite a leap indeed. Kim found Monique sitting on a bench outside of a Club Banana shop reading a Club Banana catalogue. She had hoped that her expression would give it away. It didn't.
"What's up, Kim?"
"Monique," Kim began softly as she sat down next to her friend, "I have something to tell you."
"Obviously."
"No, listen, it's important. Look, we've, uh, known each other for a long time and I don't want to keep anything from you. I want to be a good friend."
"You are a good friend, Kim."
"What you're about to hear might convince you otherwise," she replied uneasily. Kim wished Nathan was here. "Here's the thing: I hope you don't get mad or anything, but…" Kim took a big gulp, "…Nathan and I are seeing each other."
---
Quiet nights are never good, Mercenary thought. Well, sometimes they were, but most of the time they were not. So, saying "never" was a fair assumption, but if one were to base his or her logic on technicalities… ugh, it's better not to even go into that. Mercenary stood atop a rooftop overlooking several warehouses down by the docks of Middleton. He had almost forgotten everything with his recent "activities" with Kim.
Nathan had thought about quitting this job more than once. Kim was getting to him. However, when he would remember why he began doing this, he quickly dismissed resignation. He was not only bound to this, but he had made something of a promise. This whole issue with the Jade Claw was just stuff to keep him occupied and strengthen his reputation. His enemies would fear him even more, and he wanted to remain in that position.
This lead wasn't a very good one, but it was a lead nonetheless. As he had suspected, Mr. Spite had survived their last encounter and was at it again. For some reason, he was still working with the Slashers. It didn't make any sense to Mercenary. Suboto was dead, why remain employed? One could suppose that the Slashers were paying Mr. Spite, as opposed to the late Suboto handing out paychecks.
Mr. Spite was always a pain in the ass. There was no other way to put it. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy when Mercenary took his spot as the top dog, so to speak. But Mr. Spite had no one to blame but himself: he didn't seize the opportunities that Mercenary had used to make himself successful and reputable. What Mr. Spite really hated was that Mercenary always found a way to tip the odds in his favor: he always upgraded himself or something. Genuine strength didn't work anymore, not that Mr. Spite's strength was genuine.
Anyway, Mercenary had known that Mr. Spite would survive, and therefore he tracked the brute, hoping to discover someone higher up on the Slashers' list of scum. What Mercenary feared was that Mr. Spite would go looking for a new employer, someone completely separate from the Slashers. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one saw it), he did neither. But, Mr. Spite did return to a Slashers' outpost, so this was still a good thing.
Just as Mercenary had expected, Kim had got his message and joined him. She had, apparently, given Ron the night off and decided to go on this mission with Mercenary alone. The silver hunter quickly filled her in on the recent turn of events: Spite's return to the Slashers' facility. "I'm not sure we'll find anything in there," Mercenary told Kim, "but it's the only lead we've got." Kim nodded and gestured that they should proceed.
Kim held onto Mercenary as he slowly lifted off the rooftop. The jetpack carried the two of them until Mercenary landed on the rounded roof of the warehouse. Kim peeked in a ceiling window. "They're, like, organizing death drugs or something," she said.
"Why is Spite still working for these guys?" Mercenary asked in reply. "Oh well," he continued, "the direct approach presents answers too."
Mercenary and Kim burst through the sunroof ceiling window and, through the shattering sound of glass breaking, landed in the middle of a bunch of angry Slashers. Mr. Spite grinned upon seeing Mercenary. Unlike some of the other villains Kim had encountered, Mr. Spite didn't crack a "nice of you to drop in" pun, which got annoying after a while. It wasn't exactly a break in the supervillain tradition, because the attacks from Mr. Spite would more than make up for it.
"Mercenary," Mr. Spite said maliciously and calmly, "I wish I could say I'm surprised you're here. Too bad about Suboto, yes? You were so close."
"Why are you wasting your time with these guys, Spite? You could be getting a bigger payoff if you wanted one."
"By going after the Jade Claw? That's where you're wrong. I guarantee you won't catch him." The brute looked at Kim, then back at Mercenary, "You'll find that distractions can't be overlooked."
"What exactly are you doing here?" Kim asked, posing for an attack.
Mr. Spite cracked his knuckles, chuckling, "The drug business is a competitive one. The Slashers, if they want to remain intact, have to sabotage or steal from their competitors. I'm helping with that. Besides, the Slashers are giving me something that money can not."
"What's that?" Mercenary inquired coldly.
Mr. Spite smiled, "Another crack at you, Mercenary."
And with that he growled and ran at the silver hunter. Kim jumped in front of Spite to stop him, but he smacked her away. Just as Kim was smacked away, Mercenary was already flying fast at Mr. Spite. He pulled upwards and uppercut the brute in the chin, making Mr. Spite grunt. However, Spite was ready and grabbed Mercenary's ankle before he could get away.
Mr. Spite slammed Mercenary so hard on the floor that it practically shook the whole warehouse. It also roused Kim who, after seeing Mercenary severely hurt again, screamed and ran after Mr. Spite. The spiked giant was definitely irritated at this point: he could never get two seconds alone with either one of them. One had to always jump in for the other. Oh well, he thought, his strength could handle both of them at the same time.
As Kim jumped onto his arm, Mr. Spite grabbed her face and held her aloft. "Now, I'll throw you to the dogs!" He tossed her over to a horde of Slashers, who eagerly waited to tear something apart. Kim gasped as she fell in the middle of the circle they formed: there was an enemy in every direction. Meanwhile, Nathan groaned and clutched his rib. He struggled to get to his feet, but Mr. Spite wasn't going to allow him to do that.
With deep and hoarse laughter, Spite punched Mercenary left and right. He was finally getting his revenge! After every punch thrown at Mercenary's gut or face, Spite screamed triumphantly, "I hate you! I hate you! Now, you die!" The silver hunter thus was not given a second to recover; blow after blow kept him down and defenseless. The hardest hit came when Spite grabbed Mercenary's head and thrust his knee at it.
No longer would this boy be more successful than he was. Mr. Spite had gone through so much transformation: he had given up so much. And now, because a kid bought some fancy technology and equipment, that kid was better? No! Never again! Mr. Spite was the strongest! He was the best! Mercenary was going to die by his hands, and he was going to die now!
Kim was, needless to say, having a considerable amount of trouble with all these Slashers. Not only were they really creepy to look at (with those faceless masks and black hoods), but they were pretty formidable in large numbers. Also, Kim kept diverting her attention to Mercenary, to see if he was okay. She worried more each time Spite struck him across the face. Finally, Kim decided that she had to put an end to this.
She leapt as high as she could into the air and drew her grappling hair dryer. With it, she aimed at the wall. Just as she landed on a forklift driven by a member of the Slasher, Kim pulled the trigger. Kim then kicked the hooded crony in the face, making him fall against the steering wheel and go full speed in his unconsciousness. The forklift acted as a bowling ball to a bunch of pins: the Slashers. They screamed as the vehicle rammed and pinned them to the wall.
Spite laughed. Mercenary was ticked off now: that laugh was seriously annoying. Okay, you had your fun, Mercenary thought. Now it was time to settle this. Throughout his career as a hunter, Mercenary had never had a conclusive battle with Mr. Spite: there was seemingly no way to kill the knuckle-head. This time was no exception. Mr. Spite couldn't be destroyed, but he could be defeated. In the midst of Mr. Spite's hoarse cackling, Nathan looked up.
He spotted a large steel crate hanging from the ceiling. Mercenary slowly pulled out a pistol and shouted "Catch!" to Spite, who stopped laughing in confusion. The blast hit the chain with perfect accuracy and the crate fell. Mr. Spite grunted as he caught it, "You actually thought that this would kill me?"
"No," Mercenary said as he pointed his right fist at Spite and fired a wrist rocket. The projectile hit the brute square in the chest, making him drop the crate on himself and cry out in pain. Nathan was shoved back from the force of the explosion, and Kim had to shield her eyes. After the smoke had cleared, Kim saw Mercenary and ran to him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm… fine," he grunted, staggering to his feet.
Mercenary brushed himself off and leaned on Kim. "You're hurt," she said with concern.
"I'm fine," he assured her again, "Remember, my suit heals bruises and small wounds. I'm just a little sore, that's all."
"Okay," she said, relieved. "But what now?"
Mercenary limped over to a heap of boxes, "Spite said that the Slashers are trying to raise the competition and sabotage their competitors."
"Yeah, so?"
Mercenary inspected the boxes. Several of them had labels. There were two that stood out: one called "Tubba" and another called "Clay Chemicals."
"So," Mercenary replied, "if the Slashers are able to get some stuff on other organizations, their competitors have information on the Slashers."
"You think the competition knows where the Jade Claw is?"
Mercenary didn't acknowledge her. He turned away, saying, "Sara, I need any and all information on 'Clay Chemicals' and someone called 'Tubba.'"
"Both are major competitors of the Slashers, although Tubba is the fiercer rival."
"Any way a meeting could be arranged?"
"Not for Clay Chemicals," Sara answered, "But Tubba's been having some trouble with a monster truck driver. Reward is fifty thousand on delivery. You bag this one and you'll get an immediate audience with Tubba. Clay Chemicals is more a mystery, though."
Mercenary turned back to Kim and said, "You see what you find on Clay Chemicals. I'll hunt down this guy for Tubba."
"Oh sure," Kim raised an eyebrow, "you get to have all the fun."
---
And the two set out again. It wasn't quite like the attack on Suboto's compound, but it was similar nonetheless. Kim wasted no time in contacting Wade to let her know anything on Clay Chemicals. She wanted to be one step ahead of Mercenary this time: if she happened to find something out about the Jade Claw's location, she would be able to stop Mercenary from possibly killing him.
As Mercenary watched Kim run off, just like she did last time, Nathan wished he could go with her. He didn't want her to get hurt. Oh well, Kim could handle herself. She was doing that long before she had met Mercenary. So, he put the issue to bed and focused on the task at hand: the job for Tubba. Nathan got into the pilot seat of his jet and took off.
"Motor Ed," Sara said on the jet's monitor screen, "a muscle bound mullet man who specializes in all things relating to cars, stole a precious piece of equipment from Tubba, who has been wanting it back for weeks."
The screen showed an image of the one called Motor Ed. He was a tall, well-built man with a very long mullet of the dirty blond color. A mustache and goatee combination was sported on his "dude whatever" face. Sara continued, "Don't underestimate him, Nathan. Motor Ed is smarter than he looks."
"Fine," he replied, "where is he located?"
"Always with the locations, what is it with you? I'm just teasing, Nathan. Motor Ed is currently based in an abandoned monster truck scrap-yard: the perfect environment for him."
"Will he be expecting me?"
"I suppose so. You wouldn't be the first one to go after Tubba's Slysphere."
"Slysphere?"
"That's the piece of equipment that Motor Ed stole," Sara explained, "it's supposed to act as a rabid power source for any type of machinery."
Nathan grinned and pushed the thrusters forward, making his jet fly considerably faster. He spotted the spotlights that signaled the abandoned scrap yard, base of Motor Ed. Blood started flowing inside Nathan: he wanted that information, and it had eluded him far too long. Motor Ed was just a detour, a detour that needed to be dealt with.
The jet flew over the scrap yard, and Mercenary exited right as it did. He fell quick and gracefully into the middle of the arena. The jetpack on his back slowed him down enough to where he didn't feel anything from the landing. However, Motor Ed was there, and a little surprised to see someone in his territory. "Dude, are you lost?"
"Not particularly. I'm here for the Slysphere."
"Dude," Motor Ed said, coming out of the shadows, "there is, like, no way you're getting the ultra-rippin' most totally awesome Slysphere. Seriously."
"Well, I could take it from you."
"Boys!" Motor Ed called out, "This little squirt wants to play rough, seriously. I've heard about you, Mercenary. You're pretty good, seriously. When's Tubba going to learn? There's no one who can bring me down! Seriously!"
Mercenary stood up and looked around. He was surrounded by oil-stained blue collar flunkies carrying wrenches and power drills. It was nothing he couldn't handle, but the numbers of his enemies always irritated him. This is a waste of my talent, he thought. However, the bravado of Motor Ed made him that much more interested in taking his clown down.
With a minute, he heard a "Get him, boys!" and the danger signal on his HUD started blazing madly. He recognized where the little electronic arrow on his mask's screen pointed and, getting ready, ducked. A bearded bald man swung a wrench at him wildly but missed terribly. Thrusting his elbow into the man's gut, Mercenary dispatched the attacker, surprising Ed, who had never seen Mercenary in action.
"You're making it more difficult," Mercenary said simply.
"Dude! He's scared! Seriously!"
"…Difficult to decide whether to kill you and your goons."
At the sound of this, Motor Ed frowned, roared, and charged at Mercenary. But it was merely a ploy, because three of the other metal-heads were about to get him from the back. It wasn't anything Mercenary didn't see, however, because his HUD warned him of it. He dodged one of them and picked him up, throwing him at the other two. But was it a ploy? Despite the warnings, Motor Ed managed to whack Mercenary with a giant wrench, sending the silver hunter into a pile of crushed cars.
The mullet man cheered wildly and got into one of the monster trucks. He revved up the engine, put in gear, and stepped on the gas pedal. When Mercenary came to, he saw that a huge truck was speeding directly at him! He rolled to the left, and Motor Ed's monster truck barreled right through the pile of cars. Mercenary whipped around, fired his whip cord at the truck, and was pulled along with it. He skidded off the ground until he finally used his jetpack to fly into the air.
Still attached to the fast-moving truck, Mercenary boosted to where he swung around to the front of the car, landing on the hood and surprising Motor Ed. Mercenary activated his force shields, but before he could strike at the windshield, a toolbox flew through the air and knocked Mercenary off the truck's hood. Immediately, Motor Ed's gang piled on top of Mercenary, trying to pin him down. They didn't know about his electric defense mechanism.
---
Wade had informed Kim that Clay Chemicals wasn't officially involved in drug business, but it was still worth looking into. He told her that there were multiple factories and outposts all over the city, but the largest one was underwater. There was a warehouse that held a secret entrance into this underwater facility, so Wade urged Kim to take that route. "Okay, Wade," she said as she entered the warehouse, "I'm in. Lead the way."
"You'll find a large ventilation shaft at the far end of the house, take it."
Kim nodded and complied, working her way past the boxes and crates. Before she reached the entrance to the shaft, however, she fell through a secret trap door a few feet from it. Screaming from surprise, Kim noticed that ventilation fans were spinning at terrible speeds, ready to cut her up into little pieces. She quickly got out her grappler and shot it at the ceiling.
She was stopped a yard from the swirling blades. Exhaling, Kim spotted a small passage way off to the left. She swung slowly on the rope of her grapple to reach it. "Um, Wade?" she asked, "Where am I?"
"You got a little sidetracked, I see," he said in a worried tone. "Uh, I think there's still a way out of this. Oh! Use the laser lipstick in your backpack!"
"For what?"
"Cut the fan's blades."
"And fall down the hole?"
"Yep."
"You really need to get out more."
"Why?"
"Having the will to fall down a bottomless pit is easier said than done."
"Really?"
Kim sighed and reached into her backpack. Pulling out the gadget, she did as Wade had suggested. Then, taking a deep breath, Kim let out a shrill scream as she fell down into the dark hole. She screamed a little louder when he saw the bottom: a caged opening. She crashed right through it, but it didn't hurt. Perhaps all the fans in this place eased her drop.
She walked forward and passed through two sliding doors of metal into a much larger room: oh yeah, way larger. It was a glass room with a very high ceiling. It was also beautiful, though, because it gave a unique feeling of being underwater. The way the light from the water's surface (which was easily two hundred leagues up) was just stunning. This place should be a tourist attraction, Kim thought. But then she remembered her mission.
Kim ran forward through another pair of sliding automatic doors. However, this time, she was caught. Two metal claws sprouted from the walls and grabbed her hands. She was pulled forward and forced her to her knees. In the center of the room, a chamber opened up and a man ascended from it. "Hmm," he said eloquently, "it seems we have an intruder. Eh, Junior?"
---
Mercenary brushed himself off of electrocuted bodies. Motor Ed was really angry now. "Okay, dude, you are going down! Seriously!" he roared again and ran forward, swinging a sledge hammer at Mercenary. The silver hunter caught it before it could strike, however, and pulled it away. Motor Ed was suddenly nervous, but then the mullet man had an idea.
He ran over to a large hose and whipped it at Mercenary, tying him up. Then, laughing, Motor Ed threw some kind of metal disc at Mercenary, and it stuck to him. Motor Ed turned on the magnet, and Mercenary was yanked up to it. Darn, Nathan thought, he's smarter than he looks. "I told you, man," Ed said, "There ain't nobody who can bring this lion and his mane down! Seriously!"
Motor Ed then proceeded to perform an air guitar movement, saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" every time he brought his hand up and down. Mercenary sighed and started to struggle. Motor Ed noticed this and protested, "Dude, what are you doing? You can't break free from that magnet! It's at fifty plus megawatts surplus on the transmitter based energy flocculation particle filter! Seriously!"
"I'm annoyed," Mercenary said as he broke free, "SERIOUSLY!"
The silver hunter flew down to Motor Ed and, before the mullet man could react, shot him several times in the chest. Landing in front of Motor Ed, Mercenary made a fierce uppercut, sending Motor Ed high into the air and crashing into a pile of tools. But Motor Ed wasn't down for the count yet. He pulled out a remote control that made two monster trucks ambush Mercenary, attempting to crash into him from his left and right sides.
Mercenary boosted with his jetpack at just the right second, avoiding the attack. Motor Ed whimpered, got up, and ran away. As he ran, Motor Ed felt a hard tug on the back of his long hair. Mercenary had gripped his mullet. "No, dude!" Motor Ed pleaded, "Not the mullet! Not the lion's mane! Please!"
Ed was down on his knees and looked up at Mercenary, who asked, "Seriously?"
"Serious—"
Mercenary socked him across the face. He then exhaled deeply and walked over to a gold-painted monster truck and pulled the Slysphere out of the engine. Tossing it up and down, Mercenary hoped that this would be worth the trouble. Now it was time to pay Tubba a visit.
---
"Señor Senior Senior?" Kim asked in utter confusion, "You're behind Clay Chemicals?"
"Please," he replied, waving his hand at her, "Here I am called 'Hank Clay.' And to answer your question, yes, I am. I need to have some income coming in, do I not?"
"Why is Kim Possible even here?" Señor Senior Junior said anxiously as he looked at his filed nails, "We have not done anything wrong, Father."
"Yes, my son, you bring up a good point. Why exactly are you here, Ms. Possible?"
"Well, Mister Clay," Kim answered in a mocking tone, "I'm looking for someone called the Jade Claw. Do you know him?"
"The leader of the Slashers? I have not heard about him for years. I did not know he was active again."
Señor Senior Senior stroked the chin of his Spanish-born face. His accent, which matched his apparel of a Hispanic billionaire, was immediately recognizable by Kim. Señor Senior Senior leaned on an expensive cane, his right hand moving from his chiseled chin to his slicked gray hair. "I do not associate myself with such scum," he said at last, "but you might want to check with the one called 'Tubba.' He has been known to keep tabs on his enemies."
Kim sighed, "Great."
"Now, Kim Possible, I must destroy you."
"What!"
"You've seen too much, my dear. I can't let you ruin this operation just yet. By the way, how did you learn about my location?"
Kim smirked, "Wade's got connections."
"Now how did he—?" he smacked himself in the face, "Junior! Have you been on the internet chat rooms again?"
During Señor Senior Senior's scolding of his tanned and muscular son, Kim Possible used the time to get free from the claws that held her down. Pulling with everything she had, she broke one and then the other. Señor Senior Sr. gasped, "No! She must not escape!"
Kim ran back into to the large glass room with the great view and, hoping to get away quicker, swung across with her grapple. However, this meant that she had shot her grapple at the ceiling. When Kim pulled it out, Señor Senior Sr. gasped again. The entire ceiling shattered, sending in a flood of water! Kim hurried out the door and shot her grapple up the shaft she fell from.
Anxiously waiting for the grapple to reach the top, Kim bit her lip upon sight of the water rushing to her. She finally felt it and the grapple yanked her upwards just before the water hit her. She exhaled with relief, but a sudden case of worry struck her mind. If Señor Senior Sr. didn't know where the Jade Claw was, that meant that Tubba did.
---
A morbidly obese man sat on a huge chair, chewing gum. He inhaled deeply and said, "Is the reward satisfactory?"
"Hardly."
"No? What kind of mercenary are you? What else do you want?"
"Information," Mercenary said grimly.
"I'm not in the information business."
"I never thought so, Tubba, but you might be able to help me with something."
"And that is?"
"The Jade Claw."
Tubba smiled, "You are a most strange person, Mercenary. You've got guts. I like that. Yes, the Jade Claw and I were once partners, but after our separation, I still kept tabs on the Jade Claw."
"I'd like to know the location of the Jade Claw."
"That location has changed, Mercenary."
"Does that make a difference?" Mercenary asked, sounding confident in Tubba's tab-keeping skills.
Tubba smirked again, "You impress me, Mercenary. Not many people can do that. As a thank you for returning my Slysphere, I will give you the address of the Jade Claw. It's only certain for one night, though: tomorrow night."
Mercenary nodded and turned around, leaving. Tubba cleared his throat, and Mercenary glanced over his shoulder. "One more thing," Tubba said in an amused voice, "make sure you say 'hello' from me."
"Sure."
---
Kim was late. She had completely forgotten that she promised to meet Nathan under the Middleton clock tower. She was two hours late. Running in the pouring rain didn't help her get there any faster, but Kim sprinted as fast as she could. She couldn't believe that she was so late: she couldn't let him down. Her feet splashed through puddles as she almost slipped.
Spotting the clock tower, Kim pushed harder, sprinting as fast she could. Her hair was completely soaked, and her clothes had suffered a similar fate. She felt like she was the only one outside tonight. There was no noise but the rain and the splish-splosh of a redhead cheerleader running through muddy puddles. She wiped back the rain from her eyes, as it blurred her vision slightly.
Arriving at the foot of the clock tower, Kim looked around. There wasn't another person in sight. She figured that no one would stay for two hours past the time when they were supposed to meet. She blew it. Nathan left. Kim slammed her fist against the wall of the tower, sunk to her knees, and started to cry. The rain splattered upon her head and back as she clinched her fists tightly.
Then she felt that she was not alone. Looking up, she saw that Nathan had appeared from behind the tower's alley. Kim leapt up and embraced him. He hugged her tightly, and the two kissed, the rain falling between their foreheads. Before long, Nathan was terribly soaked too. Kim smiled at him, wiped her eyes, and whispered only a few words. She remembered them from a long time ago.
"You're still here?" she asked, a smile forming across her lips as she uttered the words.
"I'm still here," he said back to her.
---
In the penthouse apartment of a building in Tri City, all was quiet. It was a quiet night: there were a lot of those nowadays. A woman slept in the apartment's bedroom: she was calm and placated. Nothing bothered her tonight. There was no rain, no loud noises, no honking horns, no wailing sirens, and no whirling helicopters. She might actually get some sleep.
Shego had taken some time off from Drakken. Sure, she planned on breaking him out of his incarceration sooner or later. Either way, it wasn't right now. Now was the time for relaxation. Besides, Shego thought she deserved a break from that idiot. Drakken wasn't always a brilliant mind; in fact, he was downright stupid at times. Her light, pale-green skin brushed against the covers of the bed. It was soft.
She rubbed her own shoulders in an effort to comfort herself. Although she wanted to be away from Drakken, Shego didn't want to be alone. Like any other young woman, she had wanted someone to be there for her. Now, she was alone. Drakken certainly wasn't her soul mate, but Shego was seriously wondering if she even had a "soul mate" at all. She wasn't exactly the most dedicated person and wasn't exactly sure if she could love anyone. Shego had always been somewhat independent.
Her pitch dark green colored hair moved slowly against the pillow. All it took was a mere second to ruin her night. A simple rustle from the window told her she wasn't alone. Shego gasped and sat up, staring into the dark. The moonlight shed some light on the room, but it wasn't enough to see anything. Her breathing became shallow, like she was anxious. Shego felt quite vulnerable there, lying in bed wearing nothing but a small, tight nightgown.
Shego got out of bed and walked over to the window and closed it. She rubbed her forehead. A sudden chill ran down her spine. It wasn't something she felt: it was something she heard. Just simple words and simple sounds gave her sheer terror as she stood. "What were you dreaming about?" a raspy, cold voice asked.
"Not you," she answered harshly.
"Too bad."
"What do you want, freak?"
Mercenary walked into the light. "Know anyone called the Jade Claw?"
Shego remained silent.
"I must say, Shego," Mercenary went on, "I'm impressed. Here I thought you ran to Drakken as soon as you turned to evil. I had no idea you ran a shady operation. How long did it go on for? Oh, you don't have to answer; you don't even have to admit it. Your silence tells me everything. You know, those Slashers absolutely worship you. They treat you like a goddess: well, actually, a god, because everyone assumes you're a 'he.'"
"So, which will it be: dead or alive, Mercenary?"
"I haven't decided yet." He lifted up his two pistols, aiming at her. Shego took a couple of steps backwards, increasing the distance between them across the room. Two shots rang out in the night, and Shego winced. When she realized that she was still alive, she looked at herself.
"You missed," she said plainly.
"Actually," Mercenary said, grinning under the mask, "I didn't."
It wasn't long before Shego realized what he had really shot at. The straps on Shego's broke and the nightgown fell to her ankles, revealing Shego's nude body. She gasped and growled with anger as she covered herself as best she could. Mercenary chuckled slightly.
"You'll regret that, Mercenary," Shego said as she grabbed a chair and flung it at him. He shot at it, but the chair still came at him and knocked him to the ground. Shego, with the few seconds she had, ran into the bathroom and wrapped herself in a bright green towel. She had to flare up her hands with green plasma to be ready to attack Mercenary, who had already gotten to his feet.
Shego dove at Mercenary, grabbing his pistols as she tackled him to the ground. They wrestled there for a moment, until Mercenary shoved an elbow into her face. Shego was knocked back but still able to fight. She thrust forward her left hand and shot a beam of plasma at Mercenary, blasting him through the window and out of the apartment. He quickly shot his whipcord at the ledge and pulled himself back to the terrace.
Before Mercenary could complete his pull, Shego flared up her hand again and cut the whipcord. Mercenary instead activated his jetpack and propelled himself at Shego, tackling her fiercely. They landed against the wall, and Mercenary pinned her to the bed. She struggled to get free, and finally did by thrusting her knee in a certain spot between Mercenary's legs, causing him a spiking amount of pain. Shego flipped onto her feet and roundhouse-kicked the silver hunter's face.
Groaning with frustration, Mercenary whipped out his pistols and squeezed the trigger. Automatic blue blasts shot out of the barrel in a continuous flow, causing Shego to run for cover. The blasts tore up the bed, walls, and furniture. Shego's head peeked out and she threw a blast of plasma at him return, but Mercenary dodged it by diving to the left. When he turned around, she was already on top of him, punching him in the face and stomach.
Mercenary grabbed her fist before it could reach his face a fifth time and electrocuted her from contact. Shego was shocked so intensely that she was thrown across the room, slammed into the wall, and sunk down to the floor. Her body was slightly steaming from that attack, and her arms trembled as she tried to hold herself up. Mercenary slowly stood up and walked over to her, pointing his gun's barrel at her forehead and, with it, pushing her head against the wall.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Nathan heard Kim's voice behind him. "Mercenary," she said, pleading, "don't do it."
He sighed, "I was hoping that you'd stay out of this, Kim. I don't know how you found me: you couldn't have found this place, not without me contacting you."
"Wade's pretty resourceful," she explained, still with a pleading tone to make him put the gun down, "I got here because Wade found out about a break-in at an apartment, this apartment. Five minutes of clicking and typing told him who rented it. From there, we put the pieces together. Huh, you always said the Jade Claw was a 'he.'"
"I lied. I didn't want you know who I was really going after. It could have led to some uncomfortable situations between us."
"How long have you known?" she asked.
"Almost since the beginning," he replied, "but my suspicions were confirmed when I attacked Suboto's jungle. Shego must have had the whole place painted green during her reign." He paused for a bit and turned his head toward her, "Tell me one thing, Kim. Why are you really here?"
"Don't kill Shego. She hasn't done anything wrong."
"She's your enemy."
"Yeah, but not this time, she isn't. Sure, she started a shady organization that exploited people, but according to the records, she hasn't been active in over three years. She's innocent today."
Mercenary struggled to get out the next set of words, as if he was lying to himself, "It doesn't matter. She's nothing but a price."
"She's a human being. You know what you're saying isn't true, and I know you don't want to do this."
Shego wasn't going to wait around for these two to decide her fate. She used her legs to trip Mercenary and, getting up, sprang toward the window. Shego dived out into the night, still wearing nothing but a bath towel. As Mercenary groaned angrily, Shego landed on a motorcycle, threw off the driver, and claimed it as her own, taking off. Mercenary pushed a button on his wrist, sending over his airship.
Kim grabbed his arm, crying, "Wait!" But Mercenary shoved her back and jumped off the ledge, taking hold of a metal bar on his airship, which then sped after the Jade Claw on the motorcycle. Kim grunted as she ran to the window. Taking out her grapple hair dryer, she fired at the airship. It caught hold on the back end. She was yanked off the terrace and was soon being pulled through the air.
Ever since his reputation had been established, Mercenary never let anyone get away. That was one of the reasons why he was so well-known. He practically had a 5 out of 5 record, unlike Mr. Spite, who had been known to let his prey slip away on occasion. Here, Mercenary was fully capable of capturing his bounty: it wasn't like he couldn't. Now was the time he would decide whether or not to fully accept Kim's love and give up his reputation.
No, he thought, he would not let Shego get away. It didn't matter if Kim loved him or not: she would eventually find out who he really was and stop loving him anyway. Angels don't love murderers! Mercenary was too far into this that not even someone like Kim could forgive him for all the wrongs he'd done. He had to capture Shego. Girls come and go, but a reputation need only be broken once.
Mercenary ejected himself from his airship and began to fall toward Shego riding on the motorcycle. She was moving too fast for him to tackle her again from his fall, so he had to use a different approach. Pressing a small button on the base of his left wrist, Mercenary brought forth a new form of transportation. A silver Honda Ridgeline burst out of an alleyway and began automatic pursuit of Shego. Mercenary landed on the Ridgeline's sunroof and climbed in.
Shego made a sharp right turn at the next intersection, but Mercenary was not far behind her. She reached back and fired multiple blasts of plasma, all of which bounced off the hood and windshield of Mercenary's Ridgeline. Meanwhile, Mercenary's airship was also attacking Shego, firing missiles at her left and right. She had to yank the bike to the right then left side of the road to avoid the projectiles. The airship then unleashed a continuous barrage of bullets that were terrorizing the back end of the motorcycle.
Only now did Shego realize that her getaway vehicle wasn't going to work. The back tire had blown, and Mercenary was still in pursuit. She had to get away. Then Shego spotted a construction site and a ramp that led over the fence to it. She pushed with everything the motorcycle had to go full speed at the ramp. Shego pulled up as she went off the ramp, soaring twenty then thirty feet into the air. She positioned her feet to where they were on the seat of the bike and pushed herself off, leaping at the semi-constructed building.
Mercenary, knowing his Ridgeline would not make the jump and, more importantly, that he would not survive if he remained in it, opened the sunroof and rocketed himself out of the truck with his jetpack. Just as he was about to engage Shego, who was standing on a girder—he was surprised that the towel was still on her—he felt something hit him. Kim had jumped off the pursuing airship and dove at Mercenary in midair. She grabbed him as he hovered there.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he yelled as Kim pushed down on his back, making the jetpack carry them off madly. It twisted and turned in the air, moving ten times faster than any amusement part ride. There was actually danger involved here: what was Kim thinking? She held on to Mercenary as they both soared through the air at a tremendous velocity. Kim tugged on his left side, making them turn back to the construction site.
"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Mercenary shouted as they sped at and through the girders, "I'm your only chance to get down! Let me go or we both die!"
Kim pulled on him harder and harder, making him change direction constantly. They made six circles in less than two seconds, spiked downwards, cut sharply to the left, jolted upwards, twisted left again, and swerved through the city streets. Mercenary pushed on Kim's face, trying to push her off him so that he could regain control. But finally, with a cry, Kim and Mercenary came to a stop when she pushed off him and was slammed into a brick wall on the thirteenth floor of the near-constructed building.
Mercenary flew at amazing speed, crashing loudly into and through two girders, coming to an abrupt stop. He fell from these two pieces of metal, landing on a crosswalk. He lay there on his back, badly injured. Kim was in no less condition: she was deeply bruised, cut up on her arms and chest, and bleeding. She limped over and looked at Shego, who was above her and trying to get down. Mercenay's hand quivered as he touched his head, which throbbed, and then his chest and rib.
Though his suit was terribly torn up, he still tried to get to his shaking feet. "Nathan!" Sara said in a static, garbled tone, "Are you alright?"
"Not really," he whispered, "Kim just kicked my ass. Ow."
"Did Shego get away?"
"Not yet," he answered in a determined, firm tone. Mercenary reached up, still clutching his side, and pulled himself to the floor of girders above. This was the one that Kim was on, and Shego was two more up. Kim figured out that Mercenary was still going to go after Shego, and Shego stopped climbing down, realizing that these two were coming to her.
Mercenary drew the only pistol he had left: he had lost the other one during his mad fly around with Kim. The barrel of the gun trembled as it was pointed toward a frightened Shego. Kim climbed up, limped over to Shego, standing between her and Mercenary. "Please," Kim pleaded, spreading her arms, "don't do it, Mercenary. You spoke to me once of how we're pulled into situations where the choice never mattered. Well, here you have a choice. You don't have to live this life if you don't want to. It all starts with one choice not to do it."
"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that," Mercenary said, his voice-box breaking, "There's more reasons that I do this than the money. Shego's name was just on a list: it's nothing personal with her. Now, back away."
"You're willing to destroy our friendship just for money?" Kim asked.
"We're not friends."
"Still, I value your life, Mercenary, and I value Shego's. We're all human beings. We all deserve to live. No one of us can decide who lives and who dies. It's not our place. And, it's not your place to take Shego's life."
"That's why they call me a murderer."
Kim frowned. The blood on her lip tricked down to her neck. "Look at what you're doing," she said, "hasn't there been enough killing? During my time with you, I've seen so much senseless death caused. Now, it can end, Mercenary. You can make it end. I'm giving you a chance to be free from this."
"You play the hero. I play the villain. We're at two different ends of the chessboard."
Then Shego stepped out from behind Kim, looked at her, and said, "That was a lovely speech, Princess. But I have to go." She produced what looked like a large pipe and smacked Kim across the back of the head, knocking her unconscious and sending her off the side of the building. Shego laughed and made to leave.
In this very moment would Nathan Porter decide if he would accept Kim's love or not. Would he give up what he valued most, his reputation? Or would he go after the angel that had saved him? He remembered when they first met, at Global Justice Warehouses. He remembered her telling him to get out of her seat. He remembered Borders, "You're still here?" He remembered Max and Erma's. He remembered the kiss. He remembered the clock tower.
She would be dead in five seconds. He looked at Kim falling and then at Shego, who was running away so fast it was like she expected him to come after her. If she got away, the price on her head would expire. This was the moment of truth: it was either money or love; Kim or Shego, Mercenary or Nathan, life or death. He pushed with all his strength to jump off the girder, diving after Kim, his angel. He said a prayer and it came true: his jetpack worked. He swooped down and caught Kim just before she splattered across the concrete.
As he flew into the night, carrying her, Nathan looked at her beautiful face. She was unconscious, asleep. Seeing her like this made him sad: she would never know that he saved her life. He wouldn't tell her. Nathan knew that if she found out who he really was, she would come to hate him and not want anything to do with him. He repeated those words, "Angels don't love murderers."
And as he wondered where Shego was going, he couldn't help but wonder: did she know about his connection to Kim? Why else did she smack Kim like that? Out of sheer spite, perhaps. But Nathan sighed: Kim was right. He didn't have to go down this road, but he was tainted. He wouldn't stop until he found and killed the Demon. Plus, he couldn't just stop being Mercenary like that. Some would get very upset.
He wondered if he would ever tell Kim that he saved her. But he dismissed the idea quickly, thinking that she would never understand. She wouldn't remember that Shego knocked her off the girder; she wouldn't remember anything like that. It was okay, Nathan thought. It was better for her to concern herself with her usual stuff and not with Mercenary.
He was a lost cause.
---
Kim Possible woke up in the morning with one monster headache. She found herself back in her bedroom at her house in Middleton. She wasn't in her mission clothes anymore: no, she was comfortably dressed in her pajamas. What Kim thought was odd was that her hands and arms were bandaged up, meaning that the night and her experience hadn't been a dream. How could she have gotten injured if it was all a dream?
No, it was clear that somebody had brought her home. Kim just wasn't sure who, that's all. She limped (well, the limp was basically gone by now) to the kitchen where she found her parents and little brothers eating a pancake breakfast. They gasped and practically screamed when they saw Kim, as if they didn't know she was so beaten up. The redhead inquired who had brought her home, but her father stated that neither he nor his wife knew that Kim had even gone out last night.
Then Kim told of what she remembered about the mission: the whole thing with Shego's penthouse. Seeing that her parents were not following, Kim dismissed herself and went to call Ron, who was just as surprised as they were. Well, he wasn't surprised that she had gone out on a mission without him; he was more shocked at the sight of her bandages. Someone seriously took the time to make sure that Kim was okay. Ron assured Kim that it wasn't him.
Kim sighed and called Wade, asking if he had phoned in a favor from someone she'd helped in the past. He said that he didn't even know she'd gotten hurt. It was, after all, the middle of the night when Kim engaged Mercenary and Shego in combat. Kim called the police and Tri City hospital, asking if anyone had spotted her lying at the foot of the construction site and taken her in. None of them did. Kim narrowed her eyes: that left only one option.
She called Mercenary. He was the only other one who had known that she'd gone out that night. He must have captured Shego and came back for Kim, she thought. But when she spoke to Mercenary, he said that he could care less about her welfare. He said he went chasing after Shego, leaving Kim for dead. He told her that she just got in his way and that she was a pain in the ass. In fact, he said that because of Kim, Shego got away. Albeit the fact that Mercenary said that Shego escaped during his pursuit of her.
Kim frowned when she heard this. What she didn't know was that he was lying. She didn't know that he had held her throughout the flight back to his lair. She didn't know that he had tenderly nursed her and wiped away the blood. She would never know that he had taken off his helmet and put his forehead to hers, uttering small sobs upon her unconscious, injured body. Kim didn't know that he had stroked her head gently as he bandaged up her wounds. He was hurt to see her hurt.
She also would never know that he had taken her back to her home and snuck back into her room, carrying her in his arms, gently putting on her pajamas without perversely looking at any of her body parts. She wouldn't know that he respected her enough to treat her like the angel she was. She was still out cold when he tucked her in, rubbing her warm and bathed shoulder. Just as he left, he looked back at her sleeping, seeing that she was as comfortable as someone who went to bed just after they took a hot shower. Sara was kind enough to help her with that.
Kim eventually accepted that someone was Global Justice, a secret spy organization that Kim occasionally assisted, had been responsible for her recuperation. Though they denied it, Kim smirked at their response. GJ was always shifting the glory away when they justly deserved it. She would come to hold them in high regard because of this, although Dr. Director (leader of GJ) continually denied ever knowing about Kim's mission with Mercenary and her recent battle injuries.
As for Mercenary himself, he was disappointed. The price had expired: there was no reward for Shego's capture anymore. He let her get away. There wasn't any profit in going after Shego now. And as Nathan rested his head by a window in his lair, Sara tried to comfort him, saying that everything would be all right. She said that the important thing was that he had saved Kim, even though she would never know about it.
"No, Sara," he said, turning back to her, whose face looked like a human complexion made up of the Aurora Borealis, "Kim saved me. Well, she is saving me, I guess. It's weird, Sara, because Kim is the first person I've ever met that has made me want to give up this lifestyle. Yeah, I know I made a promise, and I was doing this for a long time because of the money and thrill, but Kim cancels all that out. A small part of me wants to have her rather than kill the Demon. I know it sounds crazy."
"No, Nathan," Sara whispered, "it doesn't."
---
Mercenary decided to pay Shego a visit. It wasn't hard to find her again, once he had researched her other hiding spots in the same district as the Tri City penthouse. Apparently, Shego wanted something of a vacation, so she handpicked a number of spots to have it. What she didn't expect was that Mercenary was hot on her tracks. She was back in her black and green outfit when he approached her. True, seeing Mercenary again scared the bejesus out of her, but he assured her, "I'm not here to fight."
"Then what are you here for?"
"I'm serious, Shego. You can put down your flaming hands now. Besides, the bounty on your cute head has expired: killing you or capturing you gains me nothing. I don't work like that. So, no hard feelings?"
"Whatever," she replied in a sour tone. "Just tell me what you want and then leave."
"As you wish," he said, putting his hands behind his back and taking a deep breath. "A while ago, you started the Slashers, and you were the high priestess or whatever to them. Since then, you've had small but noticeable influence in their affairs. So, Kim was wrong: you aren't completely innocent."
"What's your point?"
"I think you're the only person that can stop this operation. You're the only one that can disband the Slashers and shut them down. They respect and adore you, so your word would be law to them. I'm asking that you stop and destroy the Slashers and all production of death drugs."
"Why? Did Tubba put you up to this?"
Mercenary smiled under the helmet, "Tubba has agreed to pull out only if you do. He doesn't want any trouble from me, so he's decided to seek a more legitimate career. The other competition won't last if you guys don't supply, as I know you do. Hank Clay's operation was destroyed a few days ago, by unknown causes."
"Is this a threat?" Shego asked, folding her arms.
"No," he replied, "and it's not an ultimatum either. I'm just letting you know that Global Justice might have a sudden interest in shutting down all things related to death drugs, now that Kim Possible has gone to them and told them everything. I can, however, make some changes to the Global Justice record banks, but only if I get your cooperation."
"You're a part of Global Justice?"
"No, but Dr. Director and I have an agreement."
"Well, what do I get out of this?"
"Months (if not years) of relentless pursuit, interrogation, and any other forms of question-asking, that's what. I'm just trying to keep you out of an uncomfortable situation. Point being, Shego, I'm offering you a fresh start, a chance to forget about the Jade Claw and this shadowed past. You can wipe the slate clean, relatively speaking. It could save you much prison time, that's for sure."
"What about you?"
"Oh," Mercenary chuckled, "if I get caught, I'll go to prison forever."
"No, I mean what do you get out of this?"
Mercenary put his hands on his hips, "If you promise to disband the Slashers, I'll tell you."
"Okay, deal."
"I'll hold you to that," he stated firmly, putting one hand on his pistol.
But as Shego waited him to answer her question, Mercenary backed away and started to leave, greatly upsetting her. He did, however, turn back to Shego right before he walked out the door, uttering a few articulate words that gave her the answer. "It's what Kim would have wanted," he muttered. And then he was gone. Shego breathed deeply for a second and brushed back her hair.
---
Kim was surprised to see Nathan at her doorstep as soon as she stepped outside. He embraced her and started kissing her all over her face. It was quite tickling; Kim started to giggle. "When I heard about your injury last night," he said, breaking each word with a peck, "I just had to come over and see you. Are you all right? Are you? Kim?" But she hadn't stopped giggling: his kisses were soft.
"No!" she yelped as the kissing intensified, "I'm all beaten up! I'm hideous and covered in dried blood! Don't kiss me when I'm like this!"
"You're still pretty," he said, pulling her in to a long kiss on the lips. She gave in and put her arms around the back of his head, pulling him closer (if that were possible). They stood there for a long time. Nathan wanted to tell her so many things. He wanted to apologize; he wanted to call her his "angel;" he wanted to tell her everything; he wanted to tell her that she was saving him. However, Kim never let him get the words out.
But unbeknownst to them, someone was watching. And that someone was not pleased at what he was seeing. He wanted to tear those two apart. And here's the tricky part: he knew Nathan Porter's secret. Oh, he knew it well. As he hid there in the distance, this guy clinched his fist and cursed. He cursed Nathan Porter: he cursed Mercenary. He had yet to finish the plan carried out that would kill his enemy, but it would come soon.
---
Nathan returned home that evening wearing his armor and helmet. As he disembarked his airship, he pressed the buttons on the back of his helmet that allowed it to come off. There was still some sense of self-loathing in his eyes, but for the most part, it was gone. Kim had that effect on him, he guessed. He hoped that it was going to be a quiet night. He was wrong, as usual.
Just as he was walking through the hangar, three stunningly beautiful enchantresses appeared from a flash of light. One had blond hair and was called Phoebe, one had black hair and was called Selene, and one had white hair and was called Luna. These were the Weird Sisters. They were known to change shape. Nevertheless, they were the same enchanted beings that united the Demon to Macbeth and made her immortal. Nathan knew these creatures well.
"Can't you guys ever leave me alone?" Nathan asked, sounding cold as ever. "I already did your stupid bidding for you. What was the point of me hunting Shego anyway? Did you just want the Slashers disbanded or what? Anyway, I did your little chore for you, now tell me where the Demon is hiding. I know you know where she is."
"Patience," Luna, the white haired sister, said, "all will come to a head in time."
"You know what? Forget this! If you're not going to help me find my enemy, then I'm through being you're little errand boy. I'm sick of your empty promises."
"You know what we want," Phoebe, the blond, sang.
"Oh yeah? Well, you're not getting it. I'm saving that."
"It is unwise to defy us, Nathan Porter."
"My father followed your commands, and look where it got him."
"Your father defied and disobeyed us. You are still a young man, so we are kind enough to give you some leniency. Do not take it for granted. As a wise and powerful man once said, 'You would have no power were it not given to you.' Remember your place, Nathan Porter."
"You're just no help to anyone but yourselves, aren't you?" he shouted. "Go away!"
But they ignored him and blocked off his exit, saying in unison, "The one you have affections for, this girl, you must stay away from her. We command it. If you defy us in this matter, you and she will suffer greatly. Is that what you want?"
"I think we'll manage."
"Think well on this issue, Nathan Porter, and do not be foolish. If you truly love the one called Kim Possible, you will quit her immediately."
"Kim actually gives me something that you've neglected: fulfillment. You won't find any fulfillment from me, so look for it amongst yourselves. I'm sick of you three. You're nothing but trouble."
"So arrogant for a boy," the dark-haired Selene said to the white-haired Luna. "We warn you, Nathan Porter, that what you seek in her is impossible."
Nathan grinned, "Whoso loves, believes the impossible."
"You have chosen tragedy then," they all said at last to him. "So be it."
THE END?
Next: "Mission: Mercenary" (ONESHOT)
