CHAPTER 9: Cracks
SOMEWHERE IN TIME
Kim threw up an arm and blocked Shego's flaring fist. She shoved it down and forced herself to look into her enemy's glowing eyes.
"Shego! Knock it off! It's fixed!" she screamed as they hurtled through the green temporal tunnel. Shego screamed back at her and brought down her other fist. Kim blocked it as well.
"Fixed? FIXED?!" Shego ranted. "I was doing just fine when I left you. I started fading out of existence, I figured that things were finally going to be okay. Imagine my surprise when, not only did I fade back into existence, but I had a series of memories I didn't have before!"
Shego pushed off of Kim, somersaulted in mid air and planted both of her feet in Kim's chest. Kim sailed further down the tunnel, trying to right herself. Shego stretched out like a skydiver and shot towards her. As she got close, she flared up again and raised a fist.
"Such as you beating the shit out of me and dying in a Swiss hospital!" She brought her fist down, sending Kim hurling further down the tunnel, into the glowing white light at the end of it.. Shego stretched out again and followed her into the light.
MIDDLETON, USA, JULY 18, 1903
"Johnathan, honestly," Miriam "Mim" Possible said, "I really don't understand your fascination with that story."
"Just you watch, Mim," Johnathan Stoppable said, looking up from the book he was reading. "In a hundred years or so, they will call this book a classic."
"It's just a conglomeration of pseudo-scientific drivel." Mim replied, taking the copy of The Time Machine from her policeman friend. "Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Wells is a fine writer, but really, the concept of traveling through time is just patently…"
She trailed off as a glowing green portal appeared in front of them and two young women fell out, one in a form fitting green and black outfit, the other who was in a down right scandalous outfit that allowed them to see her midriff. Mim's eyebrows shot up as she realized the girl in the alarmingly short black shirt bore an uncanny resemblance to herself.
Her eyes also widened when the black haired girl in the green and black raised a hand, which burst into green flame, along with her eyes.
"John, quick! We have to do something." she said. "They're going to kill each other!"
--
"Shego, stop!" Kim said, trying to keep from getting hit by the flames. She dodged to the side as Shego growled again and brought her other hand down, claws extended. Shego's fingers embedded themselves in the cobblestone street. Kim rolled off to the side and got to her feet, holding her hands in a defensive position.
Shego glared at her, snarled and pivoted herself on her wrists, swinging her legs around and knocking Kim's feet out from under her. Kim yelped in surprise as she fell, and landed back on the street, banging her head on the cobblestones. Green stars exploded in Kim's vision, which were quickly overtaken by darkness.
Shego extracted her hand from the street, stood up and glared down at Kim. She deflared, the green glow disappearing form her eyes and reached down to grab Kim.
"I'll thank you to keep your hands off of her, Miss." came a voice. Shego turned and stared at the two people who bore an uncanny resemblance to Possible and Stoppable. True, the Stoppable look-alike had a seriously huge walrus mustache, and the Possible clone was wearing a dress that had to be downright sweltering in the summer sun, but it was enough to cause Shego to look at them for a few seconds.
The Stoppable clone was holding an old fashioned pistol and holding it on her. He looked fairly nervous. The tip of the barrel was shaking.
"Now," he said. "I am Detective Johnathan Stoppable of the Middleton Police Department, and you, Miss, are under arrest. Kindly step away from the young lady, place your hands in the air and avoid causing those green flames of yours to reappear."
Shego grinned and fought to suppress a laugh. "You're a COP? One of the buffoon's ancestors was a cop. Oh, this is rich." She looked at the Possible copy. "What about you? Wait, let me guess, a Sherlock Holmes-style private eye, right?"
"Not that it's any of your business," said the Possible, "My name is Miriam Possible and I happen to be a reporter for the Examiner. And you are?"
"Sorry," Shego replied, "I don't talk to the press. Now, if you'll excuse me, the princess here and I have some unfinished business." She reached down to pick up Kim, but stopped short when she heard the sound of Stoppable's pistol being cocked. She glanced up and saw that the barrel wasn't shaking anymore.
"I don't know who you are," Stoppable said, "And to be honest, you frighten me in a way I'm not certain I like, but I will not allow you to hurt that girl anymore. Step away. Now."
Shego's grin faded and her usual frown returned. "Fine." She reached down, undid the strap of Kim's time travel device and stood up. "When she wakes up, tell her that if she wants to go home, she's going to have to find me first."
Shego threw up a hand, channeled a ball of bioplasma and threw it at Stoppable and Possible. The two of them dove away from each other as the ball hit and exploded with a flash of green light. When their vision cleared, the unconscious girl was still lying on the street, and the mysterious green woman was gone.
--
Kim reluctantly opened her eyes and winced as light came streaming into her vision. As her eyes adjusted, she saw her own face looking down at her. She groaned and rolled over onto her side.
"This better not be that dream I had with the wetsuit, the bucket of whipped cream, and the mirror on the ceiling." She muttered.
"Why exactly would one want a mirror on their bedroom ceiling?" her reflection asked.
Kim's eyes snapped open and she sat up sharply. She was in an elegant brass bed in an ornately fashioned living room. Sitting next to her was a woman she recognized from her family photo album.
"Aunt Mim?" she asked.
"Aunt?" Mim quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not anyone's aunt. At least not yet. My brother just got engaged last month. Who are you?"
Kim shook her head, trying to clear the haze in her brain. "You're not going to believe me."
"Considering I saw you and the woman in the green and black fall out of a glowing green hole that appeared in the middle of the street, I would say my threshold for the unbelievable has been considerably broadened." Mim replied.
Kim took a deep breath. "My name is Kim Possible. I'm your great-great-grandniece. I came here from about a hundred years from now. I didn't plan on it, and I really don't want to make any more mistakes with history. So, thanks for the help, but I really shouldn't say anymore. I'll be going—"
Kim's voice trailed off as she realized her wrist was bare. She looked up at Mim. "Where is it?"
Mim frowned. "The device on your wrist? The other woman took it."
"And you let her?!" Kim yelped. She threw the covers off of her and got out of the bed. "She's going to strand me here, if she hasn't already. I can't…" Kim's voice trailed off again as her stomach cramped up with hunger. She fell to her knees and doubled over. Mim dropped down next to her.
"Are you all right?" the older Possible asked. Kim nodded.
"I'm fine, I'm just starving. Time travel seems to make you really hungry for some reason."
"Right. Then clearly I need to feed you. And while we're eating, you can tell me about the woman in green. And don't worry, I don't think she's left you behind."
Kim looked at her aunt. "How do you know?"
"She told Johnathan and me that if you wanted to go home, you were going to have to find her first. If what you're telling me is true, and you're both time travelers, I don't think she'd leave you stranded and tell you to come find her."
"Good point." Kim said, getting to her feet. "Okay, food first, then I'll tell you about Shego."
"Shego?" Mim said, standing up herself. "What sort of name is that?"
"Couldn't tell you." Kim answered. She found her shoes under the bed and slipped them on. "Ready to go."
"Not dressed like that, you aren't." Mim replied, walking to her closet. "I don't know what sort of loose morals people have in the early 21st century, but if you go out in those clothes, you're sure to garner some unwanted attention. I believe you would like to be able to eat in peace, yes?"
"That would be nice." Kim said. "I guess I could wear a dress for a couple of hours."
Mim smirked as she pulled a selection of items from her wardrobe. "I think you're going to get an impromptu education in the finer details of 1900s ladies' fashion."
Kim looks at the collection of skirts, vests, blouses, petticoats, and underwear, then up at her aunt.
"Oh boy."
--
Approximately forty-five minutes later, John Stoppable looked up from his book to see Mim coming down the stairs of the boarding house. He pocketed the volume and stood up.
Mim was smiling as she came down. She walked over to John and looked back up the stairs.
"I know that smile." John said. "That's the smile that says you've done something that has annoyed somebody else."
Mim didn't reply, but nodded din the direction of the staircase. The girl they had saved earlier was coming down, wearing one of Mim's tweed dresses. She walked slowly, clearly trying to adjust herself to the weight of the skirts and petticoats she was wearing. Aside form the fact that her hair was done up in a twist, as opposed to a bun, John would have sworn Mim had suddenly received a twin sister.
The girl reached the bottom of the stairs. "How do women walk with all this weight? I feel like I'm going to fall over."
"You get used to it." Mim replied. "John, this is Kim. She's my great-great-grandniece from a hundred years from now, and she's starving. Could I impose on you to buy us dinner?"
"Of course." He turned to Kim. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Possible. I'm Johnathan Stoppable."
"You can call me Kim." Kim replied. "Believe it or not, I'm currently dating your descendant. I'm not sure exactly how he's related to you, but he looks an awful lot like you."
"Then he's a very lucky young man." John replied. " And please, fell free to call me John. Now then, let's see about getting you fed."
--
John and Mim stared in shock as Kim finished off a second steak and politely asked the waiter for another potato. The waiter never lost his composure and said he would be right back. The detective and the reporter looked at each other, then back at Kim.
"Um, Kim," Mim said. "You might want to consider slowing down. It's…not healthy to eat so much in one sitting."
Kim finished draining her water glass, then looked at her aunt. "Oh, jeez. I'm sorry. That must have been really rude of me."
John cleared his throat and looked around the restaurant uncomfortably. Mim leaned over and whispered in Kim's ear.
"It's not necessarily rudeness. When a woman eats that much food in one sitting so quickly," she began, "people tend to read it as her having equally large appetites in…other areas."
"Other areas?" Kim whispered back. Mim nodded and glanced over at a couple at another table.
"OTHER areas." she repeated. Kim looked over at the couple, then back at Mim, confused.
Then her brain figured out what her aunt was hinting at and she turned a bright red.
"Oh." She said quietly. The waiter was passing by, and she put out a hand. "Excuse me. I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't think I'd like that potato any more. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience."
"Not at all, Miss." Said the waiter, before heading back to the kitchen.
--
A little while later, the three of them walked out of the restaurant. Kim was still fairly embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry. I forgot that things are a lot more stringent here than back in my time." She said.
"It's all right." Mim replied. "How were you to know? But, I would like to know more about that young woman in the green. Shego, did you say her name was?"
Kim nodded. "She's the hired henchwoman for a man named Dr. Drakken. He's a mad scientist. Tries to take over the world. Shego helps him."
"It would seem to me she'd be quite capable of taking over the world on her own," John said. "Especially with that green energy she can control and since she can apparently time travel at will."
Kim stopped short, her eyes glazing over slightly. "Yes..she di—could." She shook her head, then looked at them. "I'm sorry, what was I saying?"
"We were talking about Shego." Mim replied. "So, why exactly were the two of your fighting, and more importantly, why come to this period of history?"
Kim sighed. "It's a long story. The short version is, this particular Shego traveled back from even further up the timeline to ask me to stop something bad that was going to happen, I didn't listen to her advice, and as a result I made things even worse. So, she showed up just when I thought everything was fixed to kick my butt for causing her to come back into existence."
Mim and Ron looked at each other, then at Kim, confusion clearly etched on their faces.
"I think we'd better hear the long version." Mim said. "And I think it would be best if we walk back to the boarding house so we can hear all of it."
As the three of them walked back to Mim's boarding house, Kim related the entire convoluted story, starting from Shego's initial visit and fridge raiding to the heist at Tempex Technologies, to her repeated visits to the warehouse, finishing up with her unexpected visit from Shego on the roof.
"Hm." Mim said, mulling over the tale. "While I can understand your desire to fix things, I can't really approve of your stealing that device. Nor of your decision to kill Shego."
"I know," Kim said. "Stupid ideas, but they were the only things I could think of at the time. As for why were ended up here, I have no idea. I think she just picked a time at random to get us both away from that warehouse."
"Makes sense, Mim." John said, holding up his copy of The Time Machine. "Judging from what Kim has told us, and from the theories in this book, that particular span of time must be wearing rather thin. I doubt Shego would want to risk trying anything during that timeframe."
"But why even drag them both BACKWARD in time?" Mim asked. "If anything, you would think she'd bring them both forward to Kim's present. That way there'd be no chance of changing the present any more than it already has been."
"Shego tends to run off her anger. She doesn't always think things through, especially when she's focused on hurting me." Kim said.
"Maybe, but I—" Mim trailed off as they rounded the corner and saw a police wagon and several uniformed officers surrounding the boarding house. The three of them picked up the pace and hurried to the scene.
A large man dressed in a brown suit and matching bowler hat was barking orders to a couple of the uniformed police. The two officers saluted and walked off.
"Chief Barkin?" John said as they approached. "What happened?"
"Ah, Detective Stoppable." Chief Barkin said, "Excellent response time. I just sent a man around to fetch you."
He paused as he saw that John wasn't alone. "I see the Examiner couldn't wait for the official report yet again, Miss Possible." Barkin said, glaring at Mim.
"Hardly, Chief Barkin," Mim replied. "I happen to live here."
"Do you?" Barkin said. "Then maybe you can tell me whether or not you noticed any problems with the structural integrity of the house."
"What exactly happened, Chief Barkin?" Kim asked. Barkin looked over at her, then over to Mim, and back to Kim.
"I didn't know you had a twin sister, Miss Possible."
"I'm not.." Kim began but Mim cut her off.
"We hear that quite a bit. This is my cousin Kimberly, she just arrived this afternoon from Denver. John—Detective Stoppable was with us showing her the city."
"Two nosy Possibles. Lovely." Barkin muttered. "All right, as far as we can tell, the floor gave way underneath one of the second floor bedrooms. All the furniture crashed into the dining room."
"Was anyone hurt?" Mim asked.
"Fortunately, dinner had finished about a half and hour prior to the incident, everyone was either in the sitting room, the kitchen, or in their own rooms. The person renting that bedroom was apparently out at the time."
"Mim," John said, frowning. "Isn't your bedroom over the dining room?"
"Miriam!" came a new voice. The four of them looked to see a middle aged woman in a severe black dress coming towards them. Her hair was a bit disheveled and she looked a little dazed. Mim walked over to her.
"Mrs. Wilcox!" she said. "Are you all right? I just found out what happened."
"I'm fine, dear. But, I'm afraid it was your room that the floor gave way in. All your things are in the dining room. I managed to salvage a few clothes for you, but everything else..."
"That's fine, Mrs. Wilcox, just as long as no one got hurt." Mim replied.
"Chief," John said, turning back to Barkin as Mim comforted her landlady. "Would it be all right if Mim and her cousin went inside to try to retrieve some of their belongings? I can escort them to a hotel where they can stay until Mim finds a new place to live."
The chief frowned, then sighed. "I suppose that would be all right. Everything seems to have stabilized. But I want you back here once the ladies are settled. I want to find out just why a sturdy boarding house like this would have a bedroom floor spontaneously collapse."
"Yes, sir." John said. He walked back to Kim. "The Chief is going to let you and Mim go in to get your things." He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice. "It would probably be a good idea to get anything that may indicate a certain someone doesn't normally dress the way everyone else does out of the wreckage before someone starts asking questions."
"Good idea." Kim said. She paused for a minute and gave John a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, John."
John blushed and rubbed his cheek. "Um..it was nothing, really."
"Why, Johanthan Stoppable, are you trying to make time with my grandniece?" Mim said, strolling up to them with a mischievous grin on her face. "You cradle robber."
John stammered a few moments. "No! Mim! Nothing of the sort. I was just—I simply—"
"Relax, John." Kim said. "I won't hold it against you. Come on, Mim. Let's get our stuff."
The two Possibles left a red faced and embarrassed John Stoppable standing in the street, as they went to sift through the wreckage of Mim's bedroom.
--
"It makes no sense." Mim said, holding up a remnant of her brass bed. "Mrs. Wilcox bought this bed last year when the one originally in my room wore out."
The shaft of brass she was holding was tarnished and cracked in several places. One end of the shaft was crumbled and rusty. Every time Mim tapped it on her hand, flakes of brass fell to the carpet of the hotel room she and Kim had checked into.
Kim finished putting on her own shoes and dropped the skirt back over her feet. "There, at least now I won't feel like I'm on the verge of falling flat on my face."
"Kim, this is serious." Mim said sternly. " How can a more or less brand new bed suddenly collapse into a pile of rust? And how could a sturdy hardwood floor just collapse when there was nothing wrong with it?"
"I don't know," Kim replied. "But I think it might have to do with me being here. We need to find Shego so I can get the Tempex device back from her and get out of here before things get any worse."
Mim nodded. "Agreed. The longer you stay, the more chance there is of you inadvertently altering history. Any ideas where we should start looking?"
"I'm not going to look for her." Kim said. "I'm going to make her come to me. Does the Examiner sell space for personal advertisements?"
Mim nodded, perplexed.
--
It didn't take long. The taunting ad had gone out in the evening edition of the Examiner. The editor had given Kim an odd look after initially reading it, but Kim had assured him the person she wanted to contact would understand it. The editor had shrugged and began setting the type.
And now, the clock on City Hall had begun to chime nine o'clock. Kim was waiting at the fountain in front of the municipal building. She paced back and forth, the skirts of her dress rustling.
"Oooh, cute dress, Kimmie." came the familiar mocking voice. "Love the Marion the Librarian look."
Kim turned and saw Shego standing on top of the statue that surmounted the fountain. She frowned. "Give me back the Tempex device."
"Oh this?" Shego said, holding the item up by one of the wrist straps. She grinned. "Make me."
Kim's frowned deepened and she took a running leap at the top of the fountain. Shego dodged her easily and landed on the rim, while Kim took her place on the statue. Shego's smarmy grin returned.
"Not very flexible with the skirts on are you?" she said.
"Give me the device, Shego!" Kim demanded. "Something weird is happening. I need to get out of this time. We both do!"
"Oh sure, no problem." Shego said. "But not until I teach you a lesson about what happens when you don't listen to me!"
Shego strapped the Tempex device to her wrist and flared up, leaping at Kim. Kim dove to the side as Shego took a swipe at her, ripping the tweed skirt. Kim handsprung off the rim of the fountain and onto the ground. She reached down and ripped the dress the rest of the way off, revealing her mission clothes.
"You were saying?" Kim said, grinning. Shego snarled and dove back towards Kim. The two collided and fell onto the ground. Kim grabbed Shego's forearms, trying to avoid getting hit by her flaming hands. Shego reared her head back and slammed it into Kim's forehead, causing the teen hero to cry out in pain.
Kim fought through the pain and brought a knee up into Shego's stomach. Shego huffed and winced as the breath was forced out of her lungs. Kim applied additional force and threw Shego off of her.
Shego caught her breath and turned her fall into a somersault, landing on one knee a few feet behind Kim. Kim herself quickly got to her feet and turned to face her archenemy.
"Shego, stop it. This isn't solving anything." Kim said, "I screwed up, all right? I should have listened to you. But now, we really have to go!"
Shego got to her feet and turned towards Kim. "Oh, no. You think you can just say that you're sorry and expect me to let you go tripping through the timestream? I know you, Princess, you can't leave anything alone. You'll use it again, and again, trying to fix everything that goes wrong in your life or for anyone you happen to have a soft spot for."
"I would not." Kim said.
"What about Stoppable?" Shego replied. "The last thing I remember before fading out was a trace memory of me accidentally killing him. I can only assume you decided to pull this little time travel stunt to fix that."
"Call me crazy, but having Ron die to prevent World War Three didn't seem fair to me."
Shego's eyes flared green briefly. "FAIR?! When are you gonna get it through that cheerleading addled brain of yours? LIFE isn't fair, and neither is the universe!"
Shego put a hand over her eyes and rubbed them. "I told you before, you go messing around with time too much and you won't like the result. I tried fixing it so no one got hurt and nobody died. It didn't work. It stopped the war, but too many of the wrong people died in the process. I had to go through hell just to get things back to normal."
She put her hand down and looked at Kim. For the first time,. Shego didn't look angry. She looked sad and tired.
"It's the basic law of nature, Kim." She said, quietly. "Nothing comes without a price. And if you mess around with time, somebody, somehow, some way, is going to have to clean up the mess."
Kim was tempted to let down her guard, but something in the back of her mind told her this would be a bad idea.
"So," Shego said. "since you made the mess, I guess I'm going to have to be the one to clean it up!"
Shego leaped into the air, hands blazing with green bioplasma. Kim stepped back and into a roundhouse kick which caught Shego across the face. Shego flew back and hit the rim of the fountain. The fountain crumbled under the impact, sending water pouring out onto the street.
Shego shook her head and sat up, flinging her soaked hair out of her eyes. She grabbed a chunk of the fountain. Her eyes widened as it crumbled to dust as soon as she picked it up. She looked over at Kim, then down at her adversary's feet. Kim looked down and her own eyes widened.
There were cracks in the street and they were widening out rapidly form where they started.
Right under Kim's feet.
"Oh shit." Shego said in a small voice. She jumped to her feet and pulled out her time travel cube from the pouch on her belt. "That's it, we're screwed. Good luck, Princess, you're going to need it."
Shego tapped on the controls on the cube and the green time portal opened. She turned to enter the portal, and was knocked to the ground by Mim.
Mim reached down and unstrapped the Tempex device from Shego's wrist. "And THAT is for making my niece's life a living hell." She turned back to Kim. "And NEXT time, don't assume that just because your enemy is from your time that you're the only one who is qualified to deal with her."
"Oh for God's sake," Shego said, getting to one knee. "Is EVERY Possible this much of a pain in the ass?" She kicked out her leg in an extended foot sweep, knocking Mim to the ground.
"Mim!" Kim cried, dashing over the help her aunt. Behind them, Shego got to her feet and dove into the portal. The two Possibles turned as they watched her go. Kim looked back at Mim.
"I have to go before the portal closes. Thanks for everything."
Mim nodded. "It's been interesting. Go, quick before she causes any more problems."
Kim nodded back and dashed to the portal, then turned back to Mim. "Oh, and one more thing, when the World's Fair comes, make sure you check the taco stand before you decide to leave town!"
"Taco stand?" Mim asked, but Kim had already entered the portal. There was green flash, and the portal winked out. Mim dusted herself off and huffed an errant strand of hair out of her face.
As she turned to head back to her hotel room, she heard a cracking sound. She frowned and turned around. The web of cracks in the ground were growing, slowly at first, then with increasing speed. Mim stared in horror as the cracks spread from the ground to the surrounding buildings, then, astonishingly, spread from the surfaces of the building to the sky itself. The cracks grew, and sprouted new cracks, until everything in Mim's field of vision was cracked and broken.
She screamed as the entire structure of reality gave away and began spiraling into the darkness.
--
Meanwhile, in the time portal, Kim forced herself faster, trying to catch up with Shego. As she sped along, she saw Shego ahead of her.
"Shego!" she yelled. Shego looked behind her, and her eyes widened.
"Get the hell away from me, you walking entropy magnet!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kim said.
"You didn't see the cracks?" Shego replied. "Where do you think they're coming from? You screwed everything up, Princess. So the best thing I can do is get the hell away from you. "
"What happened to kicking my ass?" Kim said, grinning.
Shego rolled her eyes. "God, you really don't get it. I don't care what you do now. I'm going somewhen nice and sunny and try to enjoy what's left of my life, thanks. Just get the hell away from me!"
Kim frowned, suspicious. She raised her wrist and began setting the Tempex device for her present. "Okay then, I guess I'll just set this thing to take me home then."
"NO!" Shego screamed. She backflipped, cut the distance between her and Kim, and grabbed Kim's wrist.
Unfortunately, she grabbed it in such a way that the Tempex device was activated.
"SHIT!" Shego screamed. The Tempex device began glowing blue, but no sooner had the temporal field generated, than it reacted with the green temporal tunnel. Kim and Shego stared as the two fields interacted then exploded with a blinding flash.
Just before Kim's vision washed out with the light, she saw a pair of glowing purple eyes glaring down at her.
--
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
Kim groaned and opened her eyes. She sat up and shook her head. She looked at her surroundings, and gasped.
She was looking at the Middleton from her nightmare. The buildings were rubble. The sky was a dirty orange. Cars were on fire.
Kim blinked and looked closer. The cars were on fire, but the flames weren't moving. There were collapsing buildings, but the rubble was hanging in the air. It was as if some one had pressed the "pause" button on the world.
She shook her head again. "This has to be another nightmare."
"Not a nightmare," came a voice from behind her. "A crack. Reality crack."
Kim looked behind her, and fought to keep her jaw from dropping.
Behind her, soot stained, hollow-eyed, smeared with dirt and dried blood, and dressed in the remnants of the Middleton High cheerleader uniform, was another Kim Possible.