David Clark Allen, Shego Rocks!

TWENTY

Ron had run to Kim's house, but just as he reached her street, he saw Kim jump from her window and run away. He yelled after her, but to no avail. Out of breath, he stopped and sighed, looking sadly after her as she faded into the drizzly fog. "It's no use, Rufus," he said, hyperventilating. "The moment we catch up to K.P., she runs off again. We'll never catch her."

Uttering worried squeaks to Ron, Rufus pointed in the direction Kim had run.

"You're right, Rufus. What's with the pajamas? And why is she running everywhere? Kim's in trouble, and she needs me." He began to run again, and he quickened his pace. "And when it comes to my Kim, I will never give up."

Ron followed the footprints down the street, across a main highway, and through an open field. He saw that she had splashed carelessly through some muddy areas--very uncharacteristic for his usually neat friend. After crossing the field, he climbed the hill and crossed the footbridge across the Middleton River, to a secluded park where he finally spotted Kim.

He stared at the pitiable girl before him. She was all alone, sitting at the river's edge, in the rain. She had lost her slippers, and her night clothes were soaked and muddy. Her normally beautiful red hair was now a matted mess, hanging limply along the sides of her pale face.

From inside Ron's pocket, Rufus stared at her in awe.

Ron held the umbrella above her, to shield her from the cold drizzle. Sensing his presence, she looked around herself, and then up to him.

"Ron?"

"Kim, I've been worried sick about you. What happened? Why are you sitting alone out here?"

Kim couldn't answer. She just looked down and shivered.

"You're going to freeze to death in this rain. Here, I'll help you get home."

Kim just sobbed. "I . . . I don't have a home. Mom and Dad don't know what I'm going through, and they don't care. And everyone hates me now. I don't have anyone. I don't have anything."

"What do you mean, you don't have anything? What about Team Possible?"

He then saw her grasp her Kimmunicator in her cold hands. She pushed the "on" button with her thumb, and it emitted the familiar four-note signal, but otherwise the device appeared to be dead. Then she clicked it off. She kept on clicking it on and off, as though she was in a trance, but the screen remained blank.

She burst into tears again. "Everything I ever worked for, everything I ever dreamed for, everything I ever loved . . . is gone." She buried her head in her arms. "I can't go on. I can't . . ." She sniffled. "You remember when you said no villain had ever beaten me?" She began laughing in a way that made Ron very uneasy. "Well, it's finally happened. A villain has beaten me. Shego has beaten me!" Kim began her strange laugh again.

Ron stared at her, shocked. He had never seen Kim act so utterly defeated. "Don't think about Shego. Think about you."

Still sitting upon the ground, Kim looked away, and her tears continued. "There is no me. Kim Possible is dead, and there's nothing left of her."

"Kim, don't talk like that--"

Kim turned to Ron suddenly. "What, are you going tell me I can do anything? That anything is possible for a Possible?" She brought her hands to her chin. "Well, take a good look at me now! See, this is what I do best! Absolutely nothing! Go, Ron. Take Rufus, and go back to your burritos and your video games and your life at Middleton High with Tara and Amelia and Zita . . . and forget about me . . . just leave me here . . ."

She glared hatefully at him for a moment as the rain and tears streamed down her face, and she buried her head in her arms again. "Just leave me here."

Ron reflected for a moment. "Okay, so maybe Shego has beaten you. So maybe Josh and your family and everybody in Middleton hates you. So maybe the whole world's given up on you." He straightened up. "But I'm still here. And I'm never going to leave you."

He moved in closer. "I will never give up on you, Kim Possible."

Kim lifted her head slightly.

Ron crouched down next to her. "Shoot--we've been together since pre-K, so why should anything be any different between us now? And did you notice something? That out of all the girls of Middleton High, I'm spending this moment with you?" He thought for a moment. "Well, actually, most girls would toss me into the street, but never mind. This moment is for you."

She looked up to him.

He slouched, and his voice began to crack. "And if anything ever happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

Ron remained there for what seemed to be an eternity. Then he noticed Kim's expression change from a look of hatred to something softer, and she looked up to Ron as though a great truth had been revealed to her. And whether tears were pouring down her face, or raindrops, he couldn't tell.

Then all at once, Kim smiled, sprang to her feet, and embraced Ron tightly.

For his part, all Rufus could do was pop out of Ron's pocket, look up, and sigh. "Aww."

"Ron," she whispered in his ear. "I just realized how I can beat this thing. It was so obvious. If I weren't so bull-headed, I wouldn't have let Shego have power over me." But she couldn't continue, for exhaustion had overtaken her.

Ron escorted his barely-conscious friend back to her house. And, after she changed into dry clothes and toweled her hair dry, he led her up her stairs--half carrying her--to her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed, curled up with her blanket and Pandaroo, and within seconds she was fast asleep.

Ron felt it best to sit and wait downstairs. The rest of Kim's family was out--Ron figured they were all searching for Kim--and he wanted to field any incoming calls. His hunch was correct, for within minutes the telephone rang. The caller I.D. revealed the call was from Wade, and Ron picked it up.

"Hey, Wade."

"Ron! Thank goodness I got a hold of you. I've been trying to reach Kim for hours. Is she all right?"

"Well, I think K.P. has seen better days. But at least she's safe in bed now."

"Ron, if Shego ever returns to Middleton High, stay away from her!"

"Uh . . . say what?"

"Shego's been trying to ruin Kim. She's been playing her for a sucker! Everything that has happened with Shego since she became a student, has just been a set-up!"

"I never saw Shego do anything . . ."

"I finally decoded that encrypted recording from that device Kim found in her bedroom. Here . . . I'll play it for you."

Wade pushed a button, and the recording played back. Ron heard Drakken's voice first.

"So," Drakken said, "you're ready to become a high school girl again, eh, Shego?"

"No, I'm not ready." It was Shego's voice. "High school is the stupidest place on earth." She laughed. "But it'll be so worth it to get rid of Kimmie."

"Now, you know what to do once you get there," Drakken said.

Shego sighed. "Yes, Doctor D. I infiltrate all her clubs, where I take away all her titles. Knock her off the cheerleading team. Steal her boyfriend. Et cetera, et cetera."

"You think you can do it?"

"Oh, yeah. I can beat Kimmie at everything in school. You just watch. And, oh yeah, she'll crack. She'll crack like a piece of cheap china. The key is, I have to do all this while I stay on her good side."

Drakken gloated. "Ooh, this is going to be fun!"

"Oh, fun for you!" Shego groaned. "You aren't coming along, and I'm the one who has to endure Kimmie and her dopey sidekick for as long as it takes for her to fall." She laughed evilly. "But you're right. It's going to be lots of fun watching Kimmie suffer."

The recording ended.

Ron stood, stunned. It took him a full minute to bring himself to say anything. He could barely speak. "Shego lied to us? She never wanted to become a good person? And everything was just a sham? We were all played for fools."

"And that's not the worst of it," Wade said. "Drakken is taking advantage of the situation. He and Shego are now on their way to NAMC, in a helicopter equipped with a metal-melting ray gun."

"Uh, what's NAMC?"

"Nuclear Aerospace Missile Command. It's the nerve center to the country's strategic defense system," Wade said. "Basically, Drakken will have control over the world's largest nuclear arsenal. He'll be able to fry any country that doesn't do his bidding." Wade's voice raised with alarm. "With Team Possible out of action, nothing can stop him."

Ron looked up to Kim, who was sleeping peacefully in her bed. He frowned, clenched his hands, and glanced down to Rufus. "No. Team Possible is not out of action. There is another half still available and unshaken. Give me Drakken's coordinates, Wade. I'm going to go kick some booty!"

Kim awoke about a half hour after Ron left. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, wishing everything had just been a bad dream, but she slowly came to realize it wasn't. She held her head in her hands. "My life is so over," she sighed. And for once, it wasn't too big an exaggeration.

But there was one bright spot left in her life, and once she remembered, she leapt to her feet. "Ron!" She called downstairs, but there was no answer. She phoned Ron's place but only got his answering machine. She threw up her hands. "Ron? Where are you? I so need to talk to you!"

Her Kimmunicator was still malfunctioning, so her last resort was to go to her web page. Hopefully she could reach Wade, and find Ron from there. She turned on her computer and was immensely relieved to see Wade waiting for her.

"Wade," she began, "Where's R--"

"Kim! Crisis city! Drakken and Shego are in a chopper on the way to NAMC with a metal-melting ray. They're--"

"Wait a second. Rewind. You said Drakken and Shego?"

"Yeah! They're back together. Or, I should say, they never really were apart."

"Okay, now I'm majorly confused."

Wade sighed. He wished he weren't the bearer of such horrid news, but he had an obligation to reveal the truth to her. He played the recording of Drakken and Shego.

Kim listened, agape. Her face grew red, her body tensed, and her eyes filled with tears of hatred.

Finally, Wade spoke. "Ron's already on his way to the helicopter. So, are you going after them?"

Kim could barely see, out of fury. "Oh, yeah. You'd better believe I'm going." She turned away, and punched a fist hard into her palm. "So, this is your game, eh, Shego? This is so ferociously beyond low. I'm coming for you, Shego. I'm coming. And this time it's personal."