I don't own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin and Tatsu. Ryujin and Mirage belongs to YogurthFrost; this story is also based on a concept and several pictures by YogurthFrost.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but for some reason, I couldn't log in all day.

10: Fall of a Legend

"What the fuck were you thinking? We told you to stay here! Why the hell didn't you just listen? Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn? I mean, did you seriously think that your own sister was lying to you about the situation? Or that Wade would back her play if she was fucking lying?" Shego roared as she paced in front of Kim, who was sitting in Trin's examination room and getting her wounds tended to.

The Western ruler's hands were flying wildly about her. Her features were beyond tense and every time she made it fist, it seemed that she might tear into her palms with her own nails because of how tightly she held her hands. Her eyes flashed, blazing like her plasma, as she tried to focus on Kim, but found her eyes kept wandering after a few seconds.

"Really, mini-me, that was bordering on fucking stupid. I told you to stay here," Trin stated in a low voice as she stitched the gashes in Kim's leg where pieces of metal and wood had tore through her flesh. Her voice was tight and her body was rigid enough to pummel stones if they were cast at her.

"I'm not a child, you know!" Kim huffed, not appreciating that she was being chewed out … especially in front of an audience.

Trin and Shego were doing most of the talking, but Wade, Ryujin, Shadow Hand, and Shin were all present. Amy had been there, but decided it was not her place to listen to crew tear into Kim and the scientist knew that she would not help because she would just defend the redhead. The rest of the group would have probably had simultaneous aneurisms if that happened.

"You're acting like one! We fucking told you to stay behind because it's dangerous out there!" Shego thundered, flinging her arms wildly again.

"It's not the same world you knew, Kimmie," Trin stated, giving her younger sister a severe glower.

"I know what I'm doing! I could've helped!" Kim argued.

Shadow Hand stepped up and for a moment, Shego and Trin thought that he might defend Kim. Of course, he would not say anything that they did not already know and it would not stop them from jumping on his case as soon as they were done with her. He surprised them, though.

"You didn't help, though. Instead, you put yourself, those troops, and Ryujin at risk. You could've cost him his life. You could've cost many people their lives out there, trying to play hero," Shadow Hand grunted.

"Hey, I had it under control!" Ryujin argued, rather insulted that Kim's miscalculation was being reflected on him. "I'm not so easy to put down that I can't save one person and watch my own back!"

"I didn't need saving!" Kim shrieked indignantly. She was Kim Possible! No one saved her; she saved others!

"The wounds on your legs say otherwise and the fact that a Bebe was looming over you when Ryu got to you screams that you're lucky to be alive," Trin informed her younger sibling.

"I could've handled it!" Kim barked. Now, she was glaring at Trin and everyone around that seemed to doubt her.

"Oh, you mean how you handled it?" Shego countered in a much louder and harsher tone.

"What does it even matter to you! What are you even doing here? Leave me alone!" Kim huffed and planned to storm out of the room. Of course, the fact that her sister was still working on her wounds made that plan all but impossible.

"Stay," Trin ordered in a stern voice that kept Kim frozen in place.

"Listen, you might not believe it, but you're still frail and if we tell you to do something, you fucking do it and don't ask questions about it!" Shego commanded, pointing at the redhead before storming off. Shadow Hand followed her out.

"You don't tell me what to do!" Kim screamed at Shego's retreating form.

"She might not, but I do. If I tell you that you're not in any shape to do something like this and I tell you to stay here, you do it," Trin stated. "You don't know what's going on around here, even if you read up on it, even if you see clips of it, and even if you interview people about it. You have no serious clue as to what's going on around the world. Even if you did have a clue, you're not at top physical condition and we still don't know the complete story as to what is going on with your brain. What if you had fallen while you were out there? You could have damaged your brain severely and who knows what that could have meant. Are you trying to hurt yourself more?"

"I was trying to help! That's what I do!"

"Not right now!" Trin roared, surprising everyone in the room, including herself. Taking a deep breath, she was able to calm herself. When she spoke again, her voice was calm and normal. "You're not ready for combat. Your body isn't ready and all you're going to do is make matters worse if you don't listen to me. This isn't just your overprotective older sister talking, but your doctor. You're only going to make matters worse by trying to be a hero when your body is in no shape for it."

"And when will I be in shape for it?" Kim asked quietly.

"Slowly, but surely you are getting better, but you have to give yourself time. And, I do mean time. Not a couple of days, not even a couple of weeks, but months. Take it easy for a couple of weeks and then we can move on to some light training, but you can't expect to come out of what you did and hit the ground running. That's just not going to happen."

"Kim, please, listen to Trin. She's the best doctor we have around here. If she says you're not ready, then you're not ready," Wade chimed in. His smooth face was drawn in and his eyes glistened as if there were tears there. Even though he was not about to cry, it was clear that he was frightened for the redhead.

"Can't you do something?" Kim asked, a look of despair and desperation in her gaze.

"Give yourself and us some time. We'll look out for you, Kimmie, and get you back to normal, but you have to give us time and you have to trust us," Trin implored.

"I do trust you."

"Then you have to take it easy and you can't do things without thinking about the consequences. You could've died today. Your body and mind weren't up for this challenge."

Kim nodded sullenly. "When do you think I could at least start working out?"

"Give yourself a few days. We'll heal your gashes and then you can start working out," Trin replied. "And you're all done," she added once she finished caring for the wounds. "Ryu, could you take your aunt to get something to eat while I speak with Wade?"

"Sure thing, Aunt Trin. Come on, Aunt Kim, we'll eat in your apartment to make sure no one accidentally hits your wounds. I had it happen to me once and almost hit the ceiling right after," Ryujin commented, waving Kim out of the room.

The redhead sighed and followed the teenager out. She tried her best not to walk out limping, but the tears in her leg were too much for her to bear. She hissed in pain the first few steps she took, but remained as dignified as she possibly could while leaving the area. Trin turned her attention to Wade.

"What do you want to do?" Wade inquired.

"I think that in order to treat Kim and at least get her body caught up to where she would like it to be, I should develop a different form of our green serum," Trin said.

"Different?"

"Well, usually, we use it on refugees to clean and repair the damage done to them from living in Neo Roma, but Kim isn't polluted, only weakened. Her body has a different sort of damage to it. But, I should be able to develop a serum to help her. I just need the nanotechnology to help repair any damage left over."

Wade groaned. "Trin, you know I don't like to use the technology for that. The green serum should be enough."

"And if it isn't?"

"If it isn't, then we'll talk about the nanotechnology, but until then, we won't be having that discussion. You don't even know how Kim would react to having little machines crawling around inside of her."

"I'm sure she'd take it a lot easier than knowing that she has medicine developed from Shego's blood inside of her," Trin countered.

Wade conceded that with a glance to the ceiling. "Touché. But, knowing how you operate, she'll never know that, will she?"

"Well, if she can get past all of the scientific jargon, which we both know she can and probably will, she'll still have to look up much of what I would say and that would buy some time. Even if she does get upset …"

Wade cut in. "Try 'will get upset' because we both know that she will."

"Of course, but by then it will not matter. It'll be there and even if she refuses any follow up treatments, one should be enough to help her recover just a little faster."

"Are you sure you want to do this with her, even though she has possible brain injuries?" he inquired.

"The serum has been used to treat even brain injuries."

"But, doesn't that take a certain type?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Wade, I'm surprised by you. You are calling into question so many of my skills right now. You're questioning me as a sister, doctor, and scientist. Are you sure you want to continue do this road?" she dared him with a leveled glare.

He laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck apprehensively. "I'm just nervous, Trin. I still can't believe Kim is back and to almost lose her because she's still as foolhardy as I remember is blowing my mind all the more. With Kim back, it's almost like my childhood was real and not something I imagined to make it through the Hell that Junior has turned the world into. I feel like if we lose her again, then somehow we lose everything good and pleasant, be they real or imaginary."

Blond hair barely moved as Trin nodded. "You shouldn't put that sort of pressure on her. Regardless of Kim's status, the past was real. We will have pleasant memories again one day."

Sighing, Wade shook his head. "Sometimes, it feels like we do the same thing everyday and nothing ever changes."

"Things will change."

Wade only nodded, but it was hard to believe that things would change when Trin said them in the same bland, blasé manner that she always did. But, then again, Trin could be reporting that she killed a man or that she just cured cancer and it would always come out the same. There had never been much humanity in her as far as he could tell, but the war had devoured all but a small sliver of whatever had been there.

Of course, the war had taken pieces of him too. He just did not like to think about it. It was why he liked to think of his idealistic youth spend with helping Kim as some wonderful dream. The kid from back then could not be the man he was now. Not the man who developed weapons to kill, not the man who sometimes got so angry that he could put his hand through a wall, and not the man who refused to have children and pass on his genius. One of the things he had always looked forward to was having kids and tinkering around with machines with them, but that would never happen. Not while Junior was still alive.

"Wade, stop thinking about it," Trin ordered, knowing where his mind was wondering.

"How do you do that?" he inquired.

"You always look down at your feet when you let things start to get to you. Things will be better. Go visit your wife. I have work to do."

Wade nodded, happy to be dismissed. He should go see Amy since he had only seen her briefly after the battle. She was all right and encouraged him to stay with Kim. Now, it was time to stay with her.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim stared at the ceiling in her bedroom. Her leg was throbbing, but her pride was hurting more. She had been worthless in that battle and then she had been scolded like a child in front of so many people after embarrassing herself beyond belief. She was mortified, thinking about how Ryujin had saved her. HER! Someone who probably could not even shave yet had saved Kim Possible.

Her internal tirade was cut short as she heard her apartment door open and close. She tensed briefly until she had the low voices of Trin and Wade speaking with each other. She assumed they were coming to check up on her.

"Just when I managed to get rid of Ryujin by pretending to be tired," Kim grumbled to herself.

Deciding to employ the same practice here, Kim feigned being asleep. She heard the door to the room open and she suspected her sister and friend looked in on her, but they did not stick around. The door was eased closed and Kim was alone again.

"What is this place that I'm in? It's like being trapped in some horrible alternative universe," Kim muttered with a frown.

The redhead could scarcely comprehend what was going on. How could I have failed so miserably? She was a hero. She helped people, yet when she arrived on the scene, she instantly failed and could have made things much worse. She could have gotten killed or Ryujin could have gotten killed when he moved to save her.

Twisting and turning in her bed, her mind refused to shut off, going over her mistakes of the day. Her brain replayed the reprimands over and over. She could feel the burning in her leg where the shrapnel had devoured her skin and it felt like it had taken her soul with it.

"Crap!" Kim growled, throwing her blankets off of her and getting up from bed.

Getting dressed as quickly as she could, Kim exited her apartment and walked off down the hall, not knowing where she was going. She ended up at one of the few places that she could get to from memory—the library.

Finding the place open was like a blessing to Kim and she sighed in relief as she crossed the threshold into the empty, dimly lit area. She went directly to a computer and sat down to educate herself, not just on the war and the politics of the times, but on the people around her. In her mind, everyone was still family, friends, or, in Shego's case, enemy. There had to be more to them all now; they had twenty years to grow and change, after all.

There were some news articles available, but it seemed that everyone that she knew avoided the attention when possible. It seemed like something that they would do. All except for Ron anyway, who she thought would have eaten up the attention, but there was no mention of him. She could not find anything on Ron Stoppable. It seemed as if her best friend had vanished off of the face of the Earth. She was mentioned more through the years than Ron was and she had vanished.

"Maybe he's dead too," Kim considered. "No, why would Trin tell me Mom, Dad, and Uncle Slim are dead, but not tell me about Ron. But, if he's not dead, where is he? Was he buried with me? Maybe they're still looking for him and Trin doesn't want to get my hopes up …"

Her train of thought was interrupted as she came across battle video footage. Unable to help herself, she needed to see what other battlefields looked like and if she could find those that she knew among the carnage. Watching the video was rough, but not as much as it had been to be out there. The video seemed almost like television, even though she knew it was real.

Studying the shots, she was able to fleetingly spy those that she knew and the scenes that she saw left her breathless. Trin worked with a ninja who could only be Shin as if they were actually one being, cutting down anything in their paths with swords and powders that Kim suspected to be deadly to both Bebes and humans. Wade was not in many shots, but when he showed up, he was always armed to the teeth. Speaking of teeth, she got coverage of Amy, who could morph into animals and used that power to decimate their enemies. The ninjas were the toughest to spot, even Ryujin with his white uniform. There was only one way for her to describe everything that she was seeing: amazing.

"How are they all so good?" she wondered and then she saw the most incredible footage of all—Shego.

It was almost as if Shego had evolved into a different sort of creature altogether. The way she moved on the video was different from what Kim recalled. Hell, the way that she stood was different and definitely the uses of her powers were different. Shego was like an entirely new, and completely dangerous as far as Kim was concerned, type of creature.

"How am I supposed to stand up or stand with them if they're all like this and I can barely walk without feeling winded?" Kim wondered.

Unable to view anymore, Kim pushed away from the desk and fled into the night. Wandering, fleeing from her thoughts, she easily lost her way. It did not matter to her, though. She just needed something to do before she felt overwhelmed by everything around her.

"What can I do if this is reality? How can I help?" she pondered. While everything might have been strange and crazy, she still expected to be of some kind of assistance. There was no way in Hell that she was just going to shrink away and stay trapped behind the mansion walls.

External voices pulled Kim from her thoughts and she took note of her surroundings. She saw that she was in one of the many gardens. She ducked out of sight as a group of four men in uniforms approached. They were members of the mansion Guard from what she could tell, but they were doing more chitchatting than anything else.

"So, anyway, about the battle today. Either of you got enlisted to go?"

"Nah, they had enough people and the Elect had it under control anyway. The Savior took care of things. I heard something funny happened out there, though."

"Funny like how?"

"Well, apparently, those rumors going around about the Legend being back are true. You know that big mouth ninja that knew the Legend when she was little saw her."

"No way!"

"Totally saw her on the battlefield. The Legend's been back for days now and they're just trying to keep on the low because apparently, the Legend isn't as great as her legend makes her sound. Shadow Eyes was telling it all and she basically said the Legend was a huge flop. She was injured on the battlefield in like three seconds. She's a wimp and our parents made her up!"

"No way!"

"I swear to you I'm not making this up. After the big mouth went on and on about what happened on the battlefield, I went to check where all the Elects were and they were down in the Doc's medical ward. All of them. They don't even all go if one of them is hurt. Anyway, I went to check in with the Guards down there and they said a fiery redhead had been carried in by that cream puff Ryujin. She was bleeding and screaming about how he needed to put her down and she could take care of herself and all of this other crap. The Guard said they'd probably have to chop her leg off because of the wound. In other words, the Legend is lame!"

"I heard something about that, like she completely sucks in combat."

"Wow, that is lame. The Legend was supposed to be the ultimate warrior. The only one that could best the Savior. I always thought that the advent of the Legend would be the end of the war. But, she shows up and she's lame? That does suck."

"She's lame. Everyone says so."

Kim was out of her hiding spot quickly, ready to show those guys who was really lame, but as soon as she was out, there was a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see that Trin and Wade were standing there; Trin was the holding onto her shoulder. Wade had his attention on the Guards, who were all standing at attention.

"You guys do a lot of gossiping while you're supposed to be protecting the most important area in the land of Kimber. Maybe I should have you transferred some place where talking won't get in the way of your jobs," Wade commented. "DNAmy has mentioned needing new test subjects. You can talk all you want in the Zoo." All of the color drained from the Guards' faces.

"Wade, I think you might have found the perfect jobs for them if the look on their faces expresses their feelings on the matter," Trin stated.

"Well, then, I suppose you and Amy have more to discuss in the Zoo now."

"Sir, please, don't!" one of the Guards begged.

"Why not? You obviously don't think much of your status as royal guards. You'd be more useful in the Zoo. Or are you the type that flaunt your Guard status and look down on those in the Zoo?" Wade challenged them with an arched eyebrow.

Their eyes went to Trin for a long moment before one of them found the courage to answer. "All members of the land of Kimber are important to Life and to the Struggle."

"Is that so? Yet, you were just downing a member of Kimber. Two actually. I think I heard two. Trin?" Wade asked.

"You heard correct," the blond confirmed.

"Carry on, Guards. You'll get your new assignments in the morning," Wade informed them and they hurried off. Wade and Trin then turned their attention to the silent redhead.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night? You're supposed to be resting and not walking around on your wounded leg," Trin told her sister while motioning to the aforementioned limb.

"I needed to clear my head. And I could have handled that myself, you know?" Kim huffed and she folded her arms across her chest.

"Fighting with them, be it physically or verbally, wouldn't have done you any good. You don't need to get worked up. You need rest. You asked me when you could start exercising and it'll be never if you keep this up. I understand what those boys said was out of line and you would have put them in their place if you could, but you can't. You can't expect yourself to be totally fine after all you've been through. You can't do what you used to right after being frozen for twenty-three years," Trin said.

"And even if I could, I couldn't keep up with you all anyway, right?" Kim snapped, pulling away from the older Possible.

"What do you mean?" Wade asked, stepping closer to Kim.

"I know how good you guys are! I've seen the coverage! You guys are … you're amazing! I wouldn't be able to keep up with you if I was at the top of my game!" Kim hollered, rubbing her forehead.

"Kimmie, calm down!" Trin growled, reaching out for her sister. Kim dodged the contact.

"What good am I to anyone now! My body is weak, my brain is screwed up, and I don't even know what's going on! I don't even know how old I really am!" Kim screamed, tears flooding her eyes and pouring down her cheeks. "What good am I?" she whispered.

"You're perfectly fine, mini-me. Perfectly fine. You need to give yourself time. Will you please just give yourself time?" Trin implored the younger woman.

"She's right, Kim. You seem to think that you should wake up from a coma feeling as if everything is fine, but that's not true. Do you have any clue how lucky you are?" Wade inquired.

"What do you mean?" the redhead asked.

"Come on, Kim. Your mom was a neurosurgeon. You know what could've happened to your brain and body from being frozen in place and buried under the Earth's crust for over twenty years. You know you came out of this as best as anyone could expect and you know you did it because you have a willpower that's indefinable. You are an extraordinary human being. I think that's why you're expecting so much from yourself in such a short period of time. Be reasonable," Wade begged.

"Mini-me, even if what those idiots said stung, I promise you that you're a hero to a thousand times them. You are such an inspiration and just you being here gives people hope that they haven't had in a long time. So, there is never a time when you aren't good enough. Never," Trin insisted.

Kim sighed and nodded. "You're both right. I just need time …"

"You need time and rest," Trin added.

"And to take care of yourself," Wade chimed in. "So, let us take you home."

The redhead nodded again and followed the pair to get back to her apartment. Part of her knew that they were right, but she still could not help thinking that those Guards were right, too. She had been useless in the battle. She could not stand for anything if she could not stand on her own, she believed. She needed to get better. Now.

-8-8-8-8-

"The Legend was spotted on the battlefield and according to many sources injured immediately. Label: not a threat."

"Hmm … not a threat. Kim Possible, not a threat. Seems hard to believe, but you did say that she was wounded?" Junior asked.

"Immediately. I've heard it from an eye witness and another who confirmed the story by screaming at the eye witness about how she has a big mouth."

"Why wasn't she killed then?" he asked.

"She was rescued by the ninja known as Ryujin. He was able to pick her up as soon as she had fallen and get her off of the battlefield unscathed. Rumors have been going around that she was not supposed to attend the battle and sneaked out against the wishes of the Enemy."

Junior was momentarily silent. "I have reviewed the images that I was able to gather from the Bebes and agree with your assessment. Kim Possible is not a threat, but continue to keep an eye on her and all of the other so-called Elect. Contact me whenever necessary to crush them."

"Yes, sir."

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end of the first array.