Please note: This story is set outside of Disney's canon universe. I will attempt to keep the characters true to form, but certain requirements of my alternate universe will impress changes upon them.

Warnings: Mild violence, Homosexual relations, Mild language

Apologies: My friends made a liar out of me by dropping by unannounced. Bad way to start off again, I know. I know.


Chapter Nine
In Which a Hero Meets Her Match

Kim lounged on the couch, enjoying one of the rare quiet moments in her life. Shego's junky television set blared a mindless cartoon and Kim giggled as the lead character slipped on a banana peel. She slipped an arm up under her head for a more comfortable viewing angle.

"You still watching that trash?"

Shego pushed the front door open. Ron was right on her heels as she entered. Kim watched Ron wipe the makeup off his face – it had taken some cajoling to get him to learn how to apply it himself, but he had to agree that it was more practical that way. He still complained every once in a while though, and Shego always upbraided him for it.

"What's it like out there?" Kim scratched behind one of her ears but barely moved otherwise.

"Raining and cold." Shego slipped her raincoat off and hung it off the back of the front door. "Things are quiet. I have a package for you from Betty."

Kim sat up expectantly. "Yeah?"

A small object flew from Shego's hand to Kim's lap. Kim picked it up and inspected it – a bundle of miniature photographs spilled onto her legs. They detailed a series of long and large boxes being carried into a warehouse.

"She said these were taken outside of Drakken's headquarters. Something's going on."

"Any idea what?"

Ron tousled his hair back into its usual state of disarray. "The boxes are unmarked, but Wade's contact inside said that Drakken's building a new machine. The plans look new, though. Nothing he's seen before."

Kim slouched back down. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, then."

Shego stalked to her bedroom and disappeared for a moment. When she reappeared, she was in dry clothing. She erected a small drying stand in the living room and threw her wet belongings on it. Ron added his as he changed. Through all of this, Kim remained on the couch, fighting yawns.

Pushing Kim's legs aside, Shego plopped down on an open cushion. Before Kim could complain, Shego tapped the television with her foot and changed the channel. Kim sputtered and folded her arms across her body.

"You know the news isn't going to tell us anything useful."

Shego sniffed. "Just because the news doesn't necessarily deal with you and Drakken, it doesn't mean it's useless. Things do happen in other places in the world."

"Oh so worldly." Kim sniffed back. Her ability to mimic the testy villain had grown by leaps and bounds in the months of their friendship. "I guess I don't mind missing the last half of Tom and Jerry."

"I mind!" Ron hollered, tripping on his pants in his excitement. He picked himself back up. "Please, Shego, let us watch it."

"Please." Kim slipped a pout onto her face and thrust her lower lip out. Her lip trembled with carefully calculated sorrow.

"Bah." Shego hit the television again to change the channel back. "You two are far too comfortable with me now. That needs to change."

As Kim's smile widened, Shego concentrated on the show and not the tightening in her stomach. She viewed her growing affection as a problem that required immediate attention, yet she found herself unable to force it down under her heel.

"Sweet."

Ron flung his body down across their laps. Shego and Kim both shoved him in unison and he toppled to the floor. While the two women cackled, he rubbed his rump with a silly scowl. Outside, the rain continued to fall and the city remained at relative peace.

|x|x|x|

"Is it finished yet?" Drakken slammed his fist down against his desk. "You imbeciles promised me its completion within the week!"

His latest lead henchman bowed his head obediently. "The drones have been inefficient, Doctor. I threatened them with punishment and their work has picked back up. I think it will be completed soon."

Drakken felt his face coloring a deep purple. "If they do not finish it, then I will have to attend to this myself. It's clear that only one with my intellect will be able to do the job right."

"Yes, sir."

"You may go, Leon." Drakken muttered. "But make sure the device is prepared before my strike tomorrow. There is no room for mistakes."

As Leon bowed again and left, Drakken swiveled in his chair. He rested his elbows on the armrests, and his face in his hands. His plan was foolproof, or so he hoped. But without the device, it was a fruitless battle to fight. He needed it completed, regardless of testing or safety. If it exploded, he could easily blame the redheaded rabble-rouser. He'd done it before.

In the hallway, Leon saluted the guards posted outside of Drakken's door. He saw them as a sign of weakness, but his own cowardice kept him from saying so out loud. In the time before the rise of Kim Possible, Drakken had kept very little security around. There were of course people by the door to keep all but the personally invited outside, but never had Leon seen this level of paranoia. It was clear to him that Drakken could feel his grip on the city loosening.

"How's the boss?" A lower level drone saluted as he walked by. He paused a moment and saluted back.

"He's fine." Leon commented, resting his hand over his nametag. "He's nervous."

The drone stiffened. "I'd be nervous, too, with that upstart making trouble and smearing my good name. What if people actually believe her lies?"

Leon bit his tongue. The longer people were in service to Drakken, the more disillusioned they became. The man in front of him was clearly a newer recruit. Drakken had a way of polarizing people. Upon meeting Drakken, people were either enraptured or disgusted. Most people in Drakken's building had started life enraptured, but Leon could no longer say he wasn't disgusted. But once a member of Drakken's force, always a member. Leon couldn't remember one person leaving.

"People will see the truth." He finally responded. "Or so we can hope."

They saluted each other once more and Leon continued down to the room where the project was being assembled. Unlike the drone outside Drakken's office, these people were his friends. They waved at his entrance.

"Dude." A man covered in oil and grease popped his head out of the machine. "How'd it go?"

"I lied a little." Leon leaned against the wall. A fake video camera bleeped in the corner – it fooled almost no one. "I told him that I threatened to punish you. It should buy us some more time. Do you guys know what it is yet?"

The oil covered man wiped his face on his shirt, covering the cursive embroidery that read Manny with grime. "The plans don't seem to make sense."

Leon almost laughed. "That sounds like most of the stuff that comes from Drakken."

Manny shrugged his shoulders. "The pieces look like some of the prototypes that he was working on a few years ago, and the main mechanism looks like the main mechanism from the freeze blaster he had us build a few months ago, but that could mean anything. The machine from way back when was supposed to be a weather machine. A lot of good that would have done a hero."

At the word hero, the room erupted into laughter. Victor and Hugo joined them by the door.

"My bet is that it's an update on that weather machine." Hugo commented. "Making it smaller and more compact, so that it'll be portable. Maybe it means that he can't use it on a global scale, but he'd be able to, say, create a thunderstorm in one area, or create a breeze."

"Why would he do that?" Victor snapped. Of the four of them, Leon had the feeling that Victor would be the first to abandon Drakken's mad scheming. Leon hoped that Victor could wait – Wade had promised that Drakken would go down soon and that he and his men would be untouched. There was no saying, however, what Drakken might do to a deserter.

"What if instead of lessening the power of that device, he's just amping up the freezing one?" Hugo tried again.

"What's the point for that, anyway? The ray almost killed that kid at its old power. Amp it up and..." Manny sighed. "I don't think we're mad enough to understand what Drakken's after."

The door slammed open. All four men snapped to attention.

"Men!" Drakken screeched. "Is this why my machine remains incomplete. You stand like womenfolk and natter behind my back."

Leon saluted briskly. "No sir. I was merely passing your orders down to expedite the machine's completion. Sir!"

Drakken peered at him, narrowing his already tiny black eyes. "I see. Well you are dismissed. Go deliver orders elsewhere. I will remain here and see to the completion of this. If it is not done within my expectations, my hand will be forced."

None of the men waited around to hear the threat. They resumed their work, this time seriously. With Drakken's eyes drilling into their backs, they made sure to work quickly and quietly. Though none of them wanted the device finished, they were backed into a corner.

|x|x|x|

"I'll see you guys later!" Ron called. He slammed the door behind him, not out of anger but excitement. Although most of the connections to his old life had been severed, he'd run into an old girlfriend while grocery shopping – someone he could trust. She'd been pleased to realize that the man behind the disguise was Ron, and they'd made plans to catch up.

Kim watched the door shut and sighed happily. "I'm glad he gets to have at least some part of his life back."

In the kitchen, Shego snorted. She'd never admit that she was jealous, but there the envy was, pressing against her stomach. "Whatever. She'll probably just report on us back to Drakken and get us all killed."

"Yori's not like that." Kim insisted. "She's very big on honor."

Shego's eyebrows twitched. "Honor says that she can go out with a shady character like the media makes Ron look?"

"She knows Ron better than that. They did date for almost a year."

"So what happened?" Shego heard herself ask the question and nearly groaned. She truly didn't care.

"Her family moved back to Japan. Ron was really crushed by it, but they decided they couldn't do a transcontinental relationship." Kim crossed her arms. "I'm glad she's back. He needs some normalcy."

Shego pressed the start button on the microwave. The bag of popcorn began to circle jerkily around and inflate. Kim entered the kitchen and eyed Shego's tense posture.

"Have you ever run into someone from your past?"

"Nobody to run into." Shego spat.

"Nobody, huh? So you were a loner before, after, and always?"

"I never said I was a loner, I said there's nobody to run into."

Kim puzzled over that. "So you knew people, but…?"

"But nothing." Shego retrieved the bag of popcorn and left Kim standing there with a look of confusion on her face. "Are you coming?"

Kim bounded after her. "Yeah, yeah. So you're sure this movie is worth it?"

Shego settled in on the couch. "I can't believe you've never seen The Cat in the Hat."

"I was too old for it when it was in theaters, and then I never thought about it." Kim defended herself as she sat on the opposite end of the couch.

"Well, here's your chance. Complete with commercial interruptions."

Kim found herself regretting her desire to hang out with the surly woman. When Ron had made his date, Kim had sought alternative plans for her evening. Unfortunately, her emotions had decided that Shego would make a suitable friend for the night. But Shego had demanded they watch the television-cut version of a stupid movie and Kim couldn't refuse.

"Shego…" Kim couldn't help but let a whine enter her voice. "When I asked if you wanted to hang out with me tonight, I thought we'd be doing something more… I don't know. Together."

"We're in the same room doing the same thing. That's not together?" Shego riposted.

The best way to avoid unnecessary feeling, she decided, was to begin erecting a wall between herself and Kim. After all, as soon as Kim was out of trouble, the redhead would move on to bigger and better things – things that didn't include a grouchy villain.

"I want to know you."

"And I want to watch this movie."

"You've told me already that you've seen it sixteen times."

"Maybe I was lying." Shego bit into a handful of popcorn. "I do that you know."

"Why do you keep blowing me off?"

"Shh." Shego pointed to the screen. "Can't you see it's starting?"

Kim sat, fuming, and tucked her legs up under her chin. She barely watched the movie; it felt like acid was creeping through her veins. As the first commercial break hit, she remained still even as Shego got up and went to the kitchen. Upon Shego's return, she turned her icy glare upon the villain.

"What now?" Shego grimaced. "Did I grow a third head? A third evil head?"

Kim didn't respond. Shego knew what she had done, and Kim wasn't going to make it easy. Ignoring her, Shego resettled on the couch. The tension in the room, she noted, was thick and made it hard to breath, but she wasn't going to take the bait. The movie resumed. Kim got up and padded down the hallway.

"Wait a second." Shego felt like she was choking broken glass out instead of words. "I'm, y'know, sorry or whatever."

Kim came back with her communicator in her hands. "I'm getting a call from Wade. Did you need to say something?"

Shego bit down a curse and shook her head. "No. Do what you gotta."

"You're sure?" Kim asked, her thumb hovering over the call-accept button. Her voice was light with hope. "Absolutely nothing you want to tell me. Not even how you're feeling today?"

Had Shego been honest with Kim and herself, she would have had a better answer than, "Shut up."

Kim accepted the call, her eyes large and woefully trained on Shego. Shego threw a pillow over her face and tried to concentrate on the movie.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Drakken's on the move. He's been spotted in a large, white van moving south on Kensington. The nearest cross street is Whimsy." Wade reported. "My contact reports that he's got his latest weapon inside. We have a lot of guesses as to what it is, but no actual proof. Apparently Drakken refused to test it."

"I'm on it." Kim glanced at Shego and shook her head slowly. Perhaps there was truly nothing more to the villain than what she was seeing. "I'll be there in five minutes."

|x|x|x|

"Kim Possible!" Drakken hollered as the teen crashed to the ground in front of his van. "I was waiting for you."

Kim swept the hair out of her face. "I'd prefer if you called me by my superhero name."

"Cold Steel is a terrible name," Drakken commented, "and we all know you're not a hero. You're a villain! Out to destroy my name and wreak havoc on the city."

"How long do you think people will keep believing that?"

"Longer than you're going to be around."

Kim was ready for the swarm of henchmen that lunged at her from all angles. She threw punches and elbows and kicks at any skin that came near enough for her to land a hit upon. More often than not one of the men was able to slam a fist into her side or her face, but she never felt the blows. She swept the feet out from under one man and punched another in the nose – she felt his nose shatter under her fist on impact and was immediately sorry that she'd used so much force.

"Drakken, call them off! This is between you and me. This ends today." She yelled above the brawl. The henchmen had backed away from her after getting clobbered, many with broken bones and oozing scrapes. "I don't want to hurt them."

Drakken grinned at her and disappeared from the driver's seat of the van. The side door slid open. "Come and get me."

Kim eyed the vehicle warily. The last time she'd fought something in a van, it had ended pretty disastrously. She had been unhurt, but she'd done a lot of property damage. That was something she wanted to avoid.

"Come out here and face me like a man."

"Can't make me." Drakken goaded her. "Get 'er men!"

The henchmen hesitantly swung at her. She brushed them off. Angry at his lack of caring for the wellbeing of his lackeys, Kim charged the van. Drakken jabbed his gloved thumb against the firing mechanism. A blob of material rocketed at Kim's head.

Left with two options – dodge and let the blob hit public property, or take the blow herself, Kim kept moving forward. She'd learned from Shego that energy attacks had the same force as a punch or a kick, but did very little to slow her down. She braced herself and took the blast. A seeping coldness spilled over her.

Sluggishly, she continued moving forward. Once inside the van, fighting a deep seeded chill in her bones, she threw a punch at Drakken's face. He moved out of the way and kicked the back of her knees. She fell to the ground and tried to shake the trembling out of her limbs. If she could just land a solid blow, he'd be done for, she thought. It didn't matter how many times he hit her, he'd never do any damage.

Stumbling back to her feet, she punched at what she thought was her top power. Drakken felt the light tap on his cheek and grabbed her wrist. As she fought to protest, he slid a syringe into her arm. As her heavy heart pounded, her veins took the foreign substance throughout her body. Though her mind could slowly think, her body remained frozen in mid-punch.

Drakken patted her unmoving flesh and beamed.

"That's a good girl."


A/N: As a side note, I truly love the Cat in the Hat.