Kim Possible: Attack of the Bebes
(A/N: Fourth up today and last chapter. I have an idea for the next one, but it might be a while in coming as I haven't even started it. I have one going, but I'd intended it for a later part of the series. Anyway, enjoy, though it may be quite a surprising and sudden plot twist.)
Confession
When the battle stopped, the excitement died, and the smoke and sparks fell, leaving only the sputtering remains, the two teams all grouped up on the balcony where they'd left Drakken and Shego. "Where's Drakken?" Duff asked, instantly noticing the absence of his friend.
"Shego's gone too!" Kim exclaimed. "Drakken, Shego!"
"Over here!" Shego called from the nook, coming out and waving them over. She worriedly looked back at her limp boss then bent down, pulling him out of the alcove. The others gasped and ran towards him even more quickly.
"I say, what happened to Drakken?" Monkey Fist demanded in alarm, still holding Hana tightly and cradling her.
"I don't know," Shego replied, eyes not leaving her boss.
"He must have exerted himself too much. What did he do?" Fukushima asked.
"How should I know? The sidekick kicked, Drakken decided to help the Bebe along in her fall and retracted his vines. They tightened, he cried out in pain, Bebe went boom, electricity and debris flew everywhere, one thing led to another, and, well, this," Shego replied, gesturing to her boss and shrugging hopelessly.
"With all the danger from the dying robot and the strain he put upon himself, it is not a surprise this happened," Hirotaka stated.
"Must you all always get yourselves into these hopeless messes?" Nane asked in exasperation as Rufus leapt onto a now back to normal Ron.
"Must you always lecture everything me or my friends do?" Monkey Fist demanded.
"It's the only way you'll learn, child," she replied. All at once he was hugging her tightly, startling her silent. "Monty, what on Earth…" she began.
"You had a very close call, Senora," Senior said, smirking. Nane blinked and held her child back.
Monkey Fist pulled away from his parent, after a moment, growling, "Mother, we've been through this, I'm beyond the point of you teaching me anything anymore."
Nane harrumphed and turned up her nose. "A child will always need their mother's direction," she said.
Fukushima cringed. That had hit a soft spot. "Yes…" he agreed quietly.
KP
"Hey, what's wrong?" Tara asked him concernedly, noticing the change.
"Probably mommy issues," Bonnie replied for Fukushima, waving it off.
"My mother died when I was a child," he stated bluntly.
Bonnie blushed and cringed. "Ooh, um, I, that is, uh… I'm sorry. I didn't know," she said, quickly trying to cover the mistake and feeling guilty.
"What about you father?" Amelia asked.
"He died before I was born. He became very sick. He fell asleep one night, mother told me once, and just… he never woke up," Fukushima replied.
"All of us are alone now, Fukushima," Yori reassured, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yes, but you had your parents much longer than I had mine," he answered, taking her hand softly. She blushed. They couldn't deny there were still remnants of feelings they had for one another in moments like this. Monique blinked at the interaction and frowned, crossing her arms. She was unimpressed. She didn't know why, she just was.
KP
"Yeah, uh huh, can we ignore the orphan mumbo jumbo here and focus on Dr. D?" Shego asked, directing attention back to Drakken.
"Let me try something," Fukushima said, approaching the unconscious man. He pulled out a little satchel and knelt by him.
"What's he doing?" Shego asked.
"Fukushima is quite knowledgeable in the field of alchemy," Hirotaka explained to her.
"He's a witchdoctor?" Amelia asked. Wait, maybe that was the wrong term to use.
"A traitor who's a shaman. Go figure," Monique said, still put out by the little moment between Fukushima and Yori. Fukushima shot her a look but then turned back to Drakken, pouring a vial of some sort of liquid into his mouth.
Drakken groaned and opened his eyes. "Did we win?" he dazedly asked.
"It worked!" Kim exclaimed.
"No way," Bonnie said, shocked.
"You bet your cutie patootie we did," Amy said in reply to her old crush, grinning in relief.
"How did you get so good at that?" Monique asked Fukushima, surprised herself.
"Because his mother was a healer," Monkey Fist answered for the rogue ninja.
KP
Fukushima froze with a gasp. Immediately he shot up, spinning on Monkey Fist with eyes wide. "How did you know that?" he demanded before anyone could even bat an eyelash.
Monkey Fist stiffened, catching his breath. All eyes went to him. After a long moment he lamely replied, "A guess?"
"How did you know?!" Fukushima yelled.
Monkey Fist said nothing a long moment. Eyes bore into him from all sides. He didn't dare meet any of them. Finally he answered, "Because I once knew her. Quite… intimately. Not sexually, boy, I see the look in your eyes and can assure you no such thing happened, but she was once… a close contact of mine."
"What? Montgomery, you can't mean…" Nanny Nane began in shock and horror. Monkey Fist shot her a warning look. She could only gape. Oh gods, he did mean. Senior looked horrified and Yori pale, quickly catching on and remembering Nane and Senior's discussion in the dojo.
"What was her name?" Fukushima demanded, wanting to be sure he wasn't hearing things, and that Monkey Fist wasn't confusing his mother for someone else.
"Oh for the love of… We have more important things to think of, ninja," Monkey Fist stated.
"Answer me," Fukushima said levelly yet coldly.
Monkey Fist scowled then sighed, answering, "Setsuka, all right!? Your mother's name was Setsuka! Happy?!... And just so you don't pester me about it later, she was a great asset in my pursuit of the Mystical Monkey Legend. She was very knowledgeable about it. She, and you, boy, was directly descended from the ninja tribe who originally possessed them."
"No…" Fukushima breathed, feeling suddenly dizzy.
"You heard me. You are a descendant of the original monkey warriors," Monkey Fist stated. "Luckily for me, you do not possess the powers yourself, as far as I know. Oh, and to clench it all, she was in love with me. Now can we…"
"What?" Fukushima hissed in disbelief.
Monkey Fist blinked and sighed, willing his annoyance, anger, and desperation to leave. He was stuck in it now, over the head stuck. After a long moment he opened his eyes and repeated, tone gentler, "Whether you believe it or not, she was in love with me."
"And you…" Fukushima began in shock.
"Hardly. But… but perhaps I could have come to love her," Monkey Fist replied, trying to ignore the hurt in DNAmy's eyes. He may not have liked the geneticist, but she was a valuable ally. He focused once more on the conversation at hand. He supposed, really, that there was no reason to hide his memories about… about Setsuka… anymore. He thought a moment, tapping his chin, then looked directly at the young man. "And I remembered you, Fukushima."
KP
Fukushima gasped, pale. "How so?" he asked tightly.
"Oh come now, why did you think I selected you as my apprentice when I went for the Lotus Blade the first time? I can guarantee you it wasn't just because something about me made you stop and practically hand that sword over without a fight. I easily could have killed you… Except I remembered… I remembered and I selected you because I thought that if you were half the person your mother had been, you would know something about the Legends. And I was right," Monkey Fist said.
"I… I remember you," Fukushima declared, almost in a daze as flashbacks of his life assailed his memories. "When I was young… When I was young, I think three, there was a man, very young and very reclusive. He couldn't have been much more than twenty, maybe less, maybe more, but not much. Mother was eighteen. He… he was a stranger in our village, who came and went like the wind. Mother talked about him often. He… he used to play with me while he waited for her. Not so much by choice, but mostly because I demanded his attention. But sometimes he would play with me of his own accord, or bring me gifts." Fukushima said this all with a smile, but the smile fell to dismay.
"I never said I didn't like you, boy," Monkey Fist quietly murmured, looking away.
"She would tell me, sometimes, that maybe one day I would have a father again," Fukushima murmured.
"I won't deny that it might have been a possibility," Monkey Fist stated, drawing a hand through his hair, feeling stressed and frustrated. "I didn't love your mother, Fukushima, but I believe… Oh rot, there's really no use in denying it. I believe I may have been coming to; even returning earlier from my journeys for her sake." The others listened, awed.
KP
"How did she die? My mother," Fukushima asked.
Monkey Fist sighed through his nose, hands on his hips, then answered, "I suppose you are ready to hear. I hope you are." In that moment Fukushima knew it wasn't something he wanted to know, or something Monkey Fist was willingly telling him. That frightened him more than anything. "Look, she died by means of a curse," Monkey Fist declared.
"What do you mean?" Fukushima asked, eyes widening in fear.
"There was a scroll I needed translated and deciphered, pertaining to the legend," Monkey Fist began.
"When I was five she… she told me she was going to England for a little while and she left me at Yamanouchi. She never came back," Fukushima said, voice cracking.
"No… she didn't… She died on the plane about half-way through the return flight. If it's any consolation, it was said she died with your name on her lips," Monkey Fist offered. Fukushima willed back the tears shining in his eyes, but soon gave up and sobbed, shaking his head in denial. "I suppose in a way it was another reason I chose you… To try in some way to make up for the fate that took your mother away," Monkey Fist admitted, more to himself than to Fukushima. "That, and a promise."
"What promise?" Fukushima asked, fearing the answer yet wanting to hear it.
"If you must know, a promise to take care of you, in case something happened to her. Of course, her leaving you in some godsforsaken secret ninja school killed any possibility of me upholding that vow. How could I if I couldn't even find my ward? Besides, I was still very young, early twenties, and the idea of bringing you up when I was at such an age, not even old enough to really be a father… it frightened me."
"You left her to die," Fukushima quietly said, voice cracking.
"Yes… And I've regretted it ever since," Monkey Fist answered.
"For yourself or her?" Fukushima demanded.
"For you!" he hissed sharply. Fukushima started, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Call it a paternal instinct, but as I've already said, I did rather like you, boy. And you were too young to be without a mother. You were an orphan, and no child should ever have to suffer that. Setsuka believed I was a good man, that there was still hope for me. It cost her, her life." He turned to Yori, eyes meeting hers and boring into her very soul. "It will cost Yori hers," he said, more to Yori than to Fukushima.
Yori looked down sadly. He could believe what he would. "You are wrong," she said, though her voice was uncertain.
"Foolish girl," Monkey Fist bit. He turned back to the others and said, "Now can we please get to work on Drew?" Swiftly he walked away. The other villains and heroes followed.
KP
Fukushima was frozen, looking down at the ground. Just then a hand was on his shoulder. "Fukushima, you okay? The voice asked. Monique.
"No," he answered. "But I will get by. As always."
"I'm worried about you," she admitted, though she was reluctant to.
"There will not be another attempt at suicide," he vowed. After all, she knew about what he'd not long ago tried to do to himself. Part of him still was angered that Hirotaka had spared him.
"I hope not," she replied. "I know I hinted traitors deserve death, but… maybe there are exceptions."
"Why so fearful for me, tigress?" he asked, grinning softly at her.
She was silent. After a moment she looked down and answered, "I don't know. But… but if anything happens to you…"
"Do you no longer hate me?" he asked.
"Whoa now, don't get ahead of yourself there, boy," she instantly denied.
"Then it should not matter to you if I forfeit my life," he said, walking by her. She looked after him in shock. Had he just hinted he wanted to… Oh heck no! Suddenly she seized him, turned him around, and took his lips. His eyes widened in shock.
She pushed him away, saying, "Have I told you how much I hate you? Because traitor, you don't even know." Angrily she stormed passed him. He gaped after her in shock. A grin sprang to his face he couldn't seem to wipe. So, smiling like an idiot, and hating it yet not minding, he followed her. Yes, tigress was certainly a fitting pet name for her. "Wipe that smile off your face, ninja," she ordered, noticing his look and cursing her blush.
KP
Drakken groaned painfully, eyes fluttering open. Shego was there, looking down on him. He blinked again, blurry vision clearing. Now he saw Killigan and Monkey Fist, and… He blinked blankly. Everyone else? Oh yes, he'd blacked out again shortly after Monkey Fist and Fukushima's little moment. "Nrrgh, am I going to live?" he asked, slightly afraid of what the answer would be.
"Trust me, you'll live," Kim replied.
"Oh good. Now tell me by what miracle," he said.
"Fukushima's healing prowess," Monique replied, jerking a thumb back at Fukushima. The ninja bowed to him.
"The Bebe's are disposed o', laddie. Hopefully ye' will no' have t' worry about them far a long time," Killigan said.
"Try never again," Monkey Fist replied.
"Wi' our luck? Do no' push it lad," Killigan said.
"Is it a crime to be optimistic anymore?" Monkey Fist asked with an exaggerated sigh.
"Yes," Drakken grumbled.
"No one asked you," Monkey Fist nipped.
"I'm sick, I can say what I want," Drakken childishly insisted.
"Sick? Oh please. Yer en a bad way, but tha's about it," Killigan bit. Needless to say, the conversation led swiftly up to an argument. No one was sure if said argument was still on the same topic, but they really didn't care. The heroes slipped away, Bonnie giving Junior a kiss goodbye. The villains could find their own ways home, whenever they so chose to, but right now the heroes knew they were borderline overstaying their welcome. With the main threat gone, the villians were back as enemies. Like ghosts they all disappeared, and soon so did the villains, including Shego, all of which finally grew tired of hearing Drakken, Killigan, and Monkey Fist ripping into each other. So much for happily ever after's, Shego wryly thought as she closed the door behind her.