Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh 5Ds, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Yu-gi-oh! 5Ds after hours
Chapter twenty-three: Yusei and friends do Middleton
One morning in New Domino City, a suburb located in San Francisco, California, the residents of the Atlas Penthouse were going about their morning wake-up routines. Yusei Fudo, his roommates Jack Atlas and Kalin Kessler, and Kalin's talking dog best friend Dukey, were sitting at the dining table, either reading the morning paper (Yusei), eating a toasted bagel (Jack), or drinking from mugs of freshly brewed coffee (Kalin and Dukey).
"So Yusei, what's on the agenda today?" Kalin asked after setting his coffee mug down.
"Well," Yusei began, "I was thinking that, barring any interruptions, that Akiza and I would be able to visit her mother today, just like she's been asking me repeatedly to do with her."
"Wait a minute, I thought Akiza's mother was killed in a prison riot," Jack remarked in a mildly confused tone.
"No, that was Akiza's dad," Yusei remarked, "Remember? Lori and her siblings beat him up because he tried to hurt their brother." (1)
"Yeah, I am literally not going to apologize for my part in beating up that creep," a female voice said, prompting the guys to turn and see Lori Loud walk up to the table with a mug of coffee; in recent events, Lori was accepted as a student at Hogan University, which is owned by Crow Hogan, the friend and roommate of Yusei, Jack and Kalin. Sitting down at the table, Lori said, "No one messes with any of my siblings and gets away with it."
"Well I can't honestly blame you for-" Jack began, but he was cut off when a panicked scream came from the backyard. Instantly recognizing the voice as that of his girlfriend Carly Carmine, Jack said as he quickly got up from the table to run to the backyard, "Holy crap, something's wrong with Carly!"
The others who were sitting at the table got up to go with Jack to check on Carly to see if she was okay. When everyone arrived in the backyard, they saw Carly trying to knock something out of the tree with a broom. Laying on the ground around the base of the tree were two dead koi fish that were clearly caught and eaten by a predatory bird of some sort.
"Stupid fucking bird!" Carly hissed in an angry tone as she swung the head of the broom up at the tree, "Think my koi fish are a snack, do you?!"
"Carly, what happened?" Jack asked, getting his girlfriend's attention and prompting her to turn around to face him and the others.
Sighing in a resigned tone, Carly pointed up to what was in the tree and said, "That fucking piece of shit bird ate all of my koi fish from the koi fish pond I had built in the backyard!" Everyone who came outside walked up to look into the tree to see what Carly was pointing at. To their surprise, they saw a Staraptor perched on one of the thicker tree branches. A third koi fish was pinned by one of its clawed feet, and it was taking bites out of the prized pet fish.
"Oh, it's the neighbor boy's Staraptor," Yusei remarked. Turning to regard Carly, Yusei said, "Carly, with all due respect, you can't honestly blame the Staraptor for acting on instinct. Besides, I've said it before and I'll say it again; The koi fish pond was a stupid fucking idea."
"Koi fish are majestic fucking pets, and I'll whack that fucking bird for eating my fish!" Carly exclaimed as she turned back around and tried whacking the Staraptor with her broom again. Turning to face Carly, the Staraptor flapped its wings at her in a manner to warn her against trying it again; it even cawed at her in a threatening manner. When the bristles of the broom managed to brush against Staraptor's left foot, it cawed in a clearly pissed tone, then proceeded to fly out of the tree and begin to chase Carly.
"Why do the neighbor kids let their Pokémon wander about as they wish?!" Carly exclaimed as she began running from Staraptor.
Later, Yusei, Jack and Kalin were in the living room, watching the news. As the news cut to a commercial break, Crow walked into the living from after returning to the penthouse from somewhere. "What the hell did I miss while I was gone, dudes?" Crow said in a casual tone as he walked into the living room and plopped down into one of the recliners.
"Carly pissed off the neighbor boy's Staraptor, and it chased her for about five minutes until the neighbor boy got back and recalled him," Jack remarked.
"Wait, I thought that Zack's Staraptor is a girl," Crow remarked in a mildly confused tone.
With a gentle shake of his head, Yusei said, "No, Crow. It's a male Staraptor."
"Fun fact," Kalin added, "Zack named his Staraptor Cyrus. (2) That's one of the names that I was considering offering to Yusei and Akiza to name their son."
"What the fuck did Carly do to piss off the neighbor boy's Staraptor?" Crow asked.
"She was swinging a broom at Staraptor while he was up in a tree eating one of the koi fish from the pond that Carly had built in the backyard," Yusei explained, "The other two koi fish from the pond were found lying dead and partly eaten on the ground at the base of the tree."
"HA!" Crow laughed, "Serves Carly right for wasting money on something as unnecessary as a fucking koi fish pond!"
"Hey now," Jack said in a mildly defensive tone, "Carly doesn't get a lot of nice things, you know."
"Jack, you hated the koi fish pond as much as anyone else did," Yusei pointed out.
After regarding Yusei for a few seconds, Jack relented and said, "You got me there, Yusei."
"Anywho guys, enough chit-chat," Crow said, "We got a trip to make."
"Oh GOD," Jack complained, "We just can't seem to just stay here at the penthouse and relax for a bit, can we?"
"If we did that, then this chapter would have no plot," Crow pointed out, "But that's beside the point." Crow stood up, took a folded sheet of paper out, unfolded it, and showed it to Yusei, Jack and Kalin. It was a flyer about some Mexican food place called Bueno Nacho. "Bueno Nacho is in danger of being shut down," Crow said in a deathly serious tone, "We've gotta head down to Middleton and save it."
"Middleton?" Yusei replied in a confused tone, "Bueno Nacho?"
"Bueno Nacho is one of the finest culinary establishments in the United States," Crow said, "And in the name of all food that is Mexican and delicious, we must head to Middleton and help to save Bueno Nacho."
"Hey, I think heading down to Middleton might actually be a good thing," Kalin replied, getting the attention of Yusei and Jack, "I have a close personal friend who lives in Middleton, and we have been meaning to meet up with each other again."
Sighing in a resigned tone, Jack said, "Well, I guess this means we're heading to Middleton."
"I'll have to let Lori know that she's in charge until either us guys get back, or until Akiza gets back with Carly and Brianna from their little trip into town," Yusei remarked as he got up from where he was sitting.
After a bit of time spent traveling, Yusei and the other guys finally arrived in Middleton. Parking his Volkswagen van in the parking lot of a store, Yusei said to the other guys as they all got out, "Alright, everyone, we're finally here in Middleton. Now all we have to do is find that Bueno Nacho place." Turning to face Crow, Yusei said, "Do you at least have any idea where we can find Bueno Nacho, Crow?"
"…I don't know Bueno Nacho's exact address per say, but I know the general area of where it's located," Crow replied in a mildly embarrassed tone, "If we can just head to some place that I know is located within a certain vicinity of Bueno Nacho, then I can work from there." (3) Yusei merely sighed in response to what Crow said.
"Well, at least that's something," Yusei remarked, "Do you have any idea of a place we can go so we can find our way to Bueno Nacho?"
"I know how to get there in relation to the location of Middleton High School," Crow said.
"Okay, now we're cooking," Yusei remarked, "All we have to do is locate Middleton High School, then we can-"
"Kalin S. Kessler," a somewhat gruff and no-nonsense sounding male voice called out, "Is that you?" The guys all turned around and saw a man wearing a store employee uniform that denoted the man as an employee of the store where Yusei parked the Volkswagen. The man was at least six feet tall, had a noticeably muscular appearance, fair skin, black hair cut in a flattop. Upon seeing this man, Yusei felt that he most likely has some sort of military experience.
Kalin's expression lit up a bit upon seeing this man walk up to him and the other guys. "Steven, my good man!" Kalin said as he greeted the tall, well-built man, "It's been ages!"
"I take it this is your friend in Middleton who you told us about, Kalin?" Jack asked.
Turning around to face his roommates, Kalin said, "Oh yeah, this is him alright." Gesturing to his friend, Kalin said, "Guys, this is Steven Barkin." Turning around to face his friend, Kalin continued, "Steven, these are my friends and roommates Yusei, Jack and Crow."
"Nice to meet you gentlemen," Steven greeted in a friendly enough tone.
"Hang on a minute," Jack interrupted, "I thought I heard you say Kalin's full name with a middle initial that I wasn't aware of."
"Oh yeah, about that," Kalin said in a mildly embarrassed tone as he rubbed the back of his head, "My middle initial is S, which stands for Sophia."
Laughing out loud, Crow exclaimed, "Dude! Your middle name is Sophia?! That's the stupidest fucking middle name for a guy that I ever heard in my entire life!"
With a mildly annoyed look on his face, Kalin explained, "Look, when I was born, both of my parents wanted to name me Kalin, but my mother wanted my middle name to be either the name of her mother or the name of her father. Sophia is the name of her mother, my grandmother."
"What was your grandfather's name?" Yusei asked.
Giving Yusei a bemused look, Kalin replied, "Kevin."
"So anywho gentlemen, what brings you all here to Middleton?" Steven asked.
"My roommate Crow heard about how a local restaurant called Bueno Nacho is in danger of being shut down for some odd reason," Kalin explained, "Due to his love for all things related to Mexican food, he insisted that we come here to help try to save Bueno Nacho."
"Ah yes, Bueno Nacho," Steven replied in a knowing tone, "I heard about how it's in danger of being shut down due to not being able to keep up with monthly property taxes."
"I don't suppose you have any idea where-" Yusei began, but he was cut off when two vehicles came crashing down about twenty feet away, startling the guys and Steven. Turning around, they saw two semi-wrecked flying vehicles of some sort. A door popped off of one of them, and a pale skinned young adult woman with long black hair and a green-and-black outfit came stumbling out. To the mild alarm of the guys, this woman had some degree of green glowing about her.
As this woman coughed, a door on the other wrecked vehicle popped off, and two people came stumbling out. The first was a girl with fair skin and long red hair; she wore an outfit consisting of a purple shirt, black pants with purple highlights, and shoes and gloves that were both gray. The girl's companion was a fair skinned blonde-haired boy who looked to be about the same age as the girl. The boy wore a black shirt with sleeves ending about halfway down his forearms, gray cargo pants, a brown utility belt, and gloves and sneakers that were both dark in coloration.
As the two people who came out of the second crashed vehicle coughed, the young adult woman from the first crashed vehicle said when she turned to face the two from the other crash vehicle, "You two have been a pain in my ass for the last *COUGH* *COUGH*!" The pale-skinned woman stopped midsentence when she had to cough, most likely due to some of the smoke coming from the remains of the crashed vehicles. As the three people who came out of the two crashed vehicles were coughing, Yusei, Jack, Crow, and Kalin looked on with lost expressions.
"…The hell's going on here?" Jack asked, confused and clearly a little pissed.
"Stoppable!" Steven barked at the blonde-haired boy, "Why weren't you at work today?"
"I have today off, remember?" the blonde-haired boy replied before having another coughing fit.
"You know that guy, Steven?" Kalin asked as he turned to face his friend.
"That's Ron Stoppable," Steven explained, "He's one of my co-workers at the store I work at." Pointing to Ron and his female companion, Steven continued, "He and miss Possible there both used to be students at Middleton High School, where I work as a teacher."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold up there," Jack interrupted. With all of the guys' eyes on him, Jack continued, "Their last names are Stoppable and Possible?! The fuck kind of last names are those?!"
"I think that the girl's last name is actually pronounced po-si-ble," Crow said, pronouncing the word 'possible' using sounds that often appear when pronouncing Spanish words, "The girl must clearly be Mexican."
"I'm German, you ass!" (4) the red-haired girl snapped at Crow as she, her male companion Ron and the pale-skinned woman continued to cough. A little naked mole rat even popped out of one of the pockets on Ron's pants and began to cough as well. Before going into another coughing fit, the girl continued, "Also, my last name is pronounced Possible!"
Looking to Steven, Kalin said, "Should…should we help?"
"Oh, screw this!" the pale-skinned woman coughed as she threw a few smoke grenades at the ground, creating a smokescreen to cover her escape. As smoke clouded everyone's vision, they could hear the pale-skinned woman run away, coughing even more so than before she used the smoke grenades. (5)
After the smoke cleared, Yusei, the guys and Steven walked over to Ron and his female companion. "Stoppable, Possible, are you two okay?" Steven asked.
"We'll be *COUGH* fine, Mr. Barkin," Ron replied. After a final cough, Ron said, "Whew, I think I'm good. Anywho, KP and I probably just need a minute to catch our breath."
"Who the fuck was that woman?!" Jack exclaimed at the two teenagers.
With a confused look on her face, Ron's female companion said, "Who are you and your friends, and what are you doing with Mr. Barkin?"
"I'm Kalin Kessler, and I'm an old friend of Steven's," Kalin began to explain. Gesturing to Yusei, Jack and Crow in that order, Kalin continued, "My roommates Yusei, Jack, Crow and I came here to Middleton because Crow heard that some place called Bueno Nacho is in danger of getting shut down, and he insisted on helping to try and save the place. Crow said that he can find his way to Bueno Nacho in relation to where the local High School is located, and we just stopped off here in order to get a sense of direction."
"Oh yeah, Bueno Nacho is getting shut down," Ron's female companion remarked. She continued while jerking a thumb at Ron, "He's been panicking about it ever since word about Bueno Nacho getting shut down first came out." With a chuckle, the girl continued, "He's kind of cute when he panics like that."
"This is serious business, Kim," Ron remarked in a mildly firm tone, "Bueno Nacho is one of the finest eating establishments to ever exist, and it would be a sin against any deity that you'd care to name if Bueno Nacho were closed forever."
With an indifferent shrug, Jack remarked, "I'm pretty sure that Dialga doesn't care all that much about Mexican food." (6) Giving the two teens a firm look, Jack said, "Now please answer my previous question. Who the fuck was that pale-skinned woman, and why did she and the two of you come crashing down like a bolt from the fucking blue?!"
"It seems that some explanation is in order," the girl said, "First off, my name is Kim Possible." Gesturing to Ron, Kim continued, "And as you guys already know, this is Ron Stoppable, who's my partner on the missions we go on."
"I noticed how you were playfully teasing him a bit earlier," Yusei remarked, "He is, like, your boyfriend or something?"
"Actually, yeah," Kim replied, "But that's beside the point." To the guys as a whole, Kim said, "The woman we were chasing is named Shego. She's a supervillain who is plotting some sort of evil plan that is currently unknown to us. All that we do know is that it somehow involves the upcoming neighborhood charity bike race."
"Oh, you mean like one of those charity walks, but people ride bikes instead?" Yusei asked.
Nodding in the affirmative, Kim continued, "Both of my younger brothers are going to be in the charity bike race. So, as you can imagine, I really want to stop Shego before she can carry out whatever plan she has in mind."
"Ah, bike racing," Crow remarked in a wistful tone, "I myself am something of a bike racer. Although to be fair, I haven't had the best luck in the world…"
(FLASHBACK)
Crow could be seen riding a bike along a path. As Crow rode that bike, his voice said while narrating the scene, "My first go at a bike race ended with a rather hard stop." In the flashback scene, Crow smacked into a fairly thick tree branch that was sticking out in the way, making Crow fall off of his bike.
The flashback transitioned to another scene where Crow was riding a bike once again. "During my second go at bike racing," Crow's voice continued, "I took a rather nasty fall." In the scene, Crow managed to ride around the tree branch from before, but he accidentally rode headlong into a ditch, falling over as a result.
The flashback transitioned to another scene where Crow gave bike racing another go. "On my third attempt," Crow's voice said as it was narrating the flashback, "Something completely unexpected popped up." In the scene, Crow rode around the tree branch to avoid it, then he rode around the ditch to avoid riding into that.
Crow felt comfortable that he avoided both of the dangers, but then a shiny Gliscor flew in out of nowhere and knocked Crow over onto the ground, where it proceeded to maul him in his neck. Crow thrashed about for a few seconds until he stopped, at which point Jack walked up, bent over, and checked for a pulse. Getting up, Jack turned around and shouted in the direction behind him, "Yusei, the neighbor girl's Gliscor just killed Birdbrain!" (7)
The flashback transitioned to another scene that was just a dirt road. "On my fourth attempt," Crow's voice said as it narrated the flashback scene, "I just rode like hell." The scene then showed Crow speeding past as quickly as possible while shouting "FUCK!" repeatedly. About one second after Crow sped past, a few police cars sped past as well, clearly chasing Crow.
(FLASHBACK OVER)
"So yeah," Crow said to Kim and Ron, "I'm an experienced bike racer."
"Umm, that's well and good and all," Kim replied in a mildly unsure tone, "But how does you being experienced in bike racing help with the problem concerning Shego?"
"Look, here's the deal," Crow began, "You're worried about that Shego bitch messing with the charity bike race because your younger brothers are going to be competing in it, and I'm worried about the fate of Bueno Nacho. If you and your boyfriend here agree to help me with trying to save Bueno Nacho, my friends and I will agree to help with tracking that Shego bitch down so you can stop her and protect your little brothers. What say you?"
"I was going to end up joining the effort to save Bueno Nacho anyway since Ron's probably going to more or less drag me along," Kim began. With a small but appreciative smile, Kim continued, "But I am glad that Ron, Rufus and I will be getting help with dealing with Shego."
"Who's Rufus?" Yusei asked.
"I think that Possible is talking about Stoppable's pet naked mole rat," Steven remarked, pointing to where the little naked mole rat is popping out of Ron's pants pocket.
"Is he, like, a team mascot?" Kalin asked.
"Who has saved both my ass and Ron's ass on multiple occasions," Kim replied, "He's pretty much an equal member of the team."
"Uhh huk!" Rufus chirped in a self-amused tone.
"Well then," Yusei began, "Now that we've gotten all of the messy business of introductions and explaining everything out of the way, I say we should get to work."
"On stopping Shego or saving Bueno Nacho?" Ron asked, a mildly confused look on his face.
"Yes," Yusei replied, eliciting an even more confused look out of Ron.
Later, the guys, Kim, Ron and Rufus were seen walking out of the local mall. "Wait a minute," Kim said in a mildly amazed tone, "You guys have been to the Galleria Shopping Mall up in Canada? I've so been wanting to go there! It's supposed to be the most amazing shopping mall in the entirety of Canada!"
"And to think," Jack remarked casually, "The only reason why we went there is because we had to get a specific lemonade from the food court because Yusei's wife was having a pregnancy craving for that lemonade."
"Anywho," Yusei said, "Is there anything we should know about Shego in case we end up having to tango with her?"
"She hired two mercenaries," Kim began to explain, "Both of them are women. One has fairly short blonde hair, somewhat darkish skin and a beauty mark, and the other has brown hair that reaches past her shoulders, fair skin and no beauty mark."
"So, if we see either of those two mercenaries, what do we do?" Yusei asked.
"You should-" Kim began, but before she could go on, someone working at one of the stores in the mall came out and walked over to Kim somewhat quickly.
"Excuse me," the employee said, "But I forgot to remove the security tag from the jacket you bought."
"Oh, sorry," Kim said to the employee. Turning to face the guys, Kim said, "I need to head back inside with the jacket I bought so that the security tag can be removed."
"Please, take your time," Yusei replied in an understanding tone, allowing Kim to head back into the mall to get that security tag removed. Ron and Rufus both followed Kim into the store, leaving the guys alone.
"So, what," Crow began, "Do we just wait around for them to come back out, or what?"
"Well I think that-" Kalin said, but he was cut off when he and the other guys heard a girl roughly the same age as Kim shout in an upset manner. Looking over, the guys saw a girl that was roughly the same age as Kim. The girl that looked to be about Kim's age had fair skin, brunette hair that reached her shoulders, a pink tank-top that exposed her midriff, a reddish-purple skirt, white shoes and pink ankle socks.
The guys also saw why this girl was upset; two slightly older girls that were talking to her and were clearly tearing her apart emotionally, being overall bitches. However, something about the two slightly older girls caught Kalin's attention. "Guys," Kalin said in a mildly apprehensive tone, "Those two older girls over there." Taking his lightsaber off of his belt, Kalin turned it on as he said, "It's the two mercenaries that Shego hired to help her."
"Kalin," Yusei said, "What are you-" But before Yusei could say anything else, Kalin proceeded to run up to where the two older girls that were (supposedly) Shego's mercenaries were giving the girl Kim's age a hard time.
…
"Wow, SSJ boy actually dumped your sorry ass?" the girl with the blonde hair said to the younger girl, "Honestly, I can't blame him."
"Yeah," the girl with the long brown hair added, "Although we're still going to have to take points off of him for ever having dated you in the first place. I mean, really. Who in their-" The girl with the long brown hair was cut off when both she and the girl with the shorter blonde hair were killed from behind, their heads having been cut off. The girl Kim's age looked on with a shocked look as the women's headless bodies fell over. When the dead women fell over, the girl Kim's age saw Kalin, who was holding his lightsaber.
"Don't worry," Kalin said to the girl Kim's age as he turned his lightsaber off, "I killed Shego's mercenaries for you, so they won't be able to do anything."
"…Huh?" the girl Kim's age said in a clearly dumbstruck tone as Yusei, Jack and Crow came running over quickly.
"Kalin, why did you just run off like that and kill two random women?" Jack asked, "I mean, I'd expect something like that out of Birdbrain, but you?!" With a gentle shake of his head, Jack added, "What were you thinking?"
"Those two women both matched the descriptions of Shego's mercenaries that Kim gave us," Kalin explained, "And they were clearly harassing an innocent girl. They had to be the women that we were looking for!"
"Wait a minute," the girl Kim's age said, "My sisters were working for one of the bastards that Kim has to deal with on the regular basis?" As the guys turned to regard the girl Kim's age, Kim herself, along with Ron and Rufus, came dashing over.
Looking to the girl that was her age, Kim said, "Bonnie? What are you doing here?"
Pointing to Kalin, the girl that's apparently named Bonnie said, "He just killed my two older sisters because he's under the impression that they were hired by that green glowing person you fight all the time." Kim and Ron turned to look at where the two dead women laid on the ground, then they turned to look to Kalin.
Pointing to where the dead women laid, Ron said, "…Alright then. First off, Bonnie's sisters weren't Shego's mercenaries, but in your defense, the descriptions for Shego's mercenaries that KP gave you were rather vague. Second off, how did you inflict wounds like that?!"
"With this," Kalin replied as he took his lightsaber back out and turned it on.
"DUDE!" Kim exclaimed in a clearly impressed tone that carried more than a hint of excitement, "Where did you get that?! I've always wanted to get one of those!"
"Pfft," Crow remarked, "The guys and I have, like, ten of them back home. We can sell one of them to you if you want." (8)
"I think we're getting off subject here," Yusei replied. Gesturing to the girl that was Kim's age, Yusei said to Kim and Ron, "You two seem to know who this girl is, so would you mind filling my friends and I in on who she is? I mean, Kalin did just kill her sisters, meaning that we have some explaining to do to her family."
"This is Bonnie Rockwaller," Kim said as she introduced Bonnie, "She was a classmate of mine back when Ron and I attended Middleton High." To Bonnie, Kim said, "Umm, are you okay, Bonnie? I mean, your sisters were just killed because they were mistaken for mercenaries that were hired by Shego."
"First off," Bonnie began with a hint of sounding upset in her tone, "I can't go to college because my mom had to spend my college savings on bailing my older sisters out of jail, then Senor Senior Junior dumped me, then when I get back to Middleton, my older sisters proceeded to give me crap, just like they always do!" Looking somewhat to the ground, Bonnie gestured to Kalin and continued in her troubled tone, "Him killing my sisters was actually the first good thing to happen to me this week, if I'm to be honest."
Turning to Kim, Ron said while gesturing to Bonnie's dead sisters, "Hey KP, should we get this mess cleaned up? Also, we should give the guys more detailed descriptions of the mercenaries Shego hired so that they won't kill the wrong people again."
"Good idea," Kim replied as she pulled out a phone, "I'll call a clean-up crew to get this taken care of." Turning to face Bonnie, Kim said in a mildly awkward tone, "Umm, seeing as how you're related to the deceased, do you have any preference for how they're laid to-"
"Burn them," Bonnie said, cutting Kim off before she could finish.
Later, the guys were over at Kim's place, talking things over with her and Ron about dealing with whatever Shego has planned. "So, here's the sitch," Kim said, "Shego has something planned concerning the upcoming charity bike race here in Middleton. She has also hired two mercenaries to help her with her plan."
"The problem is that we don't know what Shego's plan is," Ron added, "We also don't know what Shego's mercenaries look like aside from that vague description."
"That led me to kill Bonnie's sisters," Kalin said, sounding somewhat guilty.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, Bonnie's sisters were complete and total bitches," Kim replied, "And I honestly wouldn't be all that surprised if they had ever stooped so low as to do mercenary work for Shego."
"And then there's the most important point of interest of all," Crow added, "Saving Bueno Nacho."
"We…can focus on that later," Kim replied.
"Now hang on there KP," Ron began, "I think that Mr. Hogan here might be onto something."
"Look, here's an idea," Yusei said as he got everyone's attention, "I think that the best way to get ahold of Shego is to wait for her to strike, then when she's out in the open, we move in and stop her."
"Maybe we can use Kim as bait?" Crow suggested.
"Excuse me?!" Kim exclaimed, her eyes widen with surprise.
"Look, this Shego girl and you seem to get along like cats and dogs," Crow began, "Meaning if she sees you, she will most likely want to go after you for a shot at kicking your butt, right?"
"That's…" Kim began, "…Not untrue."
"So, you enter the charity bike race," Crow said, "Shego sees you, her desire to kick your ass will compel her to go after you, then you and her fight each other, with Ron most likely acting as your backup."
"But what about her two mercenaries?" Kim asked, "We still have to deal with them. What if they show up to back Shego up?"
"Yusei, Crow, Kalin and I will handle the mercenaries," Jack replied, "You two, my friend and I will be six, and Shego and her mercenaries will be three. We'll outnumber them two to one."
"No, Jack," Crow said, "We'll outnumber them six to three." (9) Jack then turned his head to look at Crow and give him a 'really?' kind of look.
"…Anywho," Kim said, "That will be our plan 'A' for now." Looking up to the ceiling of the living room, Kim let out a whistle. "I haven't been in a bike race for a while."
"Isn't the bike race tomorrow?" Yusei asked.
"It is," Kim replied. To everyone as a whole, Kim said, "Anywho, we all ought to get some rest. Tomorrow, we stop whatever plan Shego has. Sound good?"
"Yup," Yusei said, with the others all nodding in agreement.
"Good," Kim remarked with a single nod. The group spent the rest of the night going over their other plan, the plan to try to help save Bueno Nacho.
The next day, as everyone was gearing up for the bike race, Kim was putting a bike helmet on. As she did, she heard the person acting as an announcer call out, "Alright, everyone! The race is about to start! Let's get pedaling for charity!"
"Shego's going to strike soon," Kim thought as she climbed onto her bike, "I just know it."
…
About halfway through her first lap around the very large area mapped out for the charity bike race, Kim caught up to her little brothers Tim and Jim, who were also taking part in the charity bike race. "Why did you suddenly decide to enter, sis?" Tim asked.
"I…have my reasons," Kim replied to her little brother, "There's nothing to-" Kim was cut off when she heard a familiar sound coming from her wrist, Kim stopped her bike, which prompted her brothers to stop as well. Looking to the wrist Kimmunicator she wore, Kim answered the call, and the screen lit up with a live video feed of Wade sitting at his computer desk. "What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim asked.
"Are you and Ron taking part in a charity bike race in Middleton?" Wade asked, "Because I just got a call from Ron, and he said that he and four other guys are being attacked by Shego and two mercenaries that she hired to help her."
"Ron's being attacked?!" Kim nearly exclaimed, clearly looking worried.
"They're over at the starting line for the bike race, if what Ron told me is correct," Wade continued, "You ought to hurry over to help Ron and the guys out."
"I'm on my way," Kim said as she ended the call. Without missing a beat, Kim sped off while shouting to her brothers, "Stay there!" The two young genius boys did stay where they were told, but they did so more out of confusion than obedience.
By the time that Kim arrived on scene, she saw that Shego's two mercenaries were knocked out, and that Shego alone was fighting Ron, Yusei, Jack, Crow and Kalin. Despite the fact that she was outnumbered five to one, Shego was able to keep up with her opposition quite well, although it was clear that she was getting tired.
Joining the fray, Kim got off of her bike, ran over, and did a jump kick at Shego, striking her in the stomach and making her stumble backwards until she was backed against a wall. Hurt and exhausted, Shego could only growl in annoyance when Kim, Ron, Yusei, Jack, Crow and Kalin surrounded her.
"Well, well, well," Ron said in a mildly self-amused tone, "Looks like we got you surrounded, Shego. Care to tell us what you had planned concerning the bike race?"
"Feh, fine," Shego practically spat, "I was planning on taking the money that was raised."
"Wow, not only is that one of the lowest things you've ever done, but it's something that far too easy for you," Kim remarked.
"Well it was pretty much the only option I had, girl," Shego replied.
"Why were you trying to steal the money, though?" Yusei asked, "Or did you just want money?"
"Yeah, I'm kind of curious about that myself," Kim said, "Why were you trying to steal the money that the charity bike race was raising?"
"Would wouldn't believe me, even if I told you," Shego scoffed.
"Try me," Kim retorted.
Sighing in a resigned tone, Shego said, "I'm trying to become a mother."
"…What?" Kim said, clearly not believing what she just heard.
"There's this six-year-old Chinese girl in an orphanage over in Echo Creek," Shego began, "She's the most adorable little girl that you'd ever see, and I want to adopt her and raise her and just love her to bits."
"Echo Creek?" Crow said, "Hey, that's where Marco and Star live!"
"Here's the thing though," Shego went on, "The manager running the orphanage is clearly a racist, and in order for me to adopt the little girl that I have my eye on, I have to pay three to four times as much as I would have had to pay to adopt a white kid." With a disgusted-sounding scoff, Shego said, "I even heard him say that he firmly believes that only the white kids deserve to get adopted."
"What the fuck?!" Crow exclaimed, "That's some messed up sordid doggy brothel peepshow bullshit right there, man!"
"So, you're trying to get the money you need to cover the fees and other expenses to adopt a girl," Kim said, sounding like she was having great difficulty believing what Shego had said.
"When your clock is ticking, you'll know how I feel," Shego replied, "But that's beside the point. I'm assuming that you're going to catch me and turn me over to the authorities now." Kim, Ron and the four guys turned to look to each other before, did a quick group huddle, then broke the huddle and turned their attention back to Shego.
"…We'd like to make a proposition," Yusei said.
Later outside of the Possible residence, Tim and Jim rode their bike up the driveway, as they have returned from taking part in the charity bike race. As they got off their bikes, they heard a tear in the fabric of space open up over in the front yard. When they turned to look, Tim and Jim saw their sister Kim, Ron (with Rufus riding on his left shoulder), Yusei, Jack, Crow, Kalin, Shego and a six-year-old Chinese girl step out of a tear in the fabric of space that appeared in the front yard for some reason.
"Well then, Shego," Yusei said as he put the Golden Tiger Claws away, "We managed to get that little issue of business taken care of."
"I suppose that I should apologize to all of you for my actions earlier," Shego remarked in a somewhat embarrassed tone as she rubbed the back of her head in a similarly embarrassed manner, "I suppose I was a little riled up. (10) But I would first like to say thanks to all of you for helping me with adopting my new daughter Kai." Kneeling down next to the six-year-old Chinese girl, Shego threw her arms around her, drew her into a hug, and said, "Ooh, you are just the most precious thing ever and I'm going to love you to bits!"
"I love you too, mommy!" the six-year-old Chinese girl, apparently named Kai, replied in a happy tone as she proceeded to return the hug.
"So now what?" Ron asked.
Getting up from kneeling down next to her new daughter, Shego turned to regard Kim, Ron and the guys. Walking up to Yusei, Shego said, "Since you played the biggest role in helping me adopt Kai, this is for you." Shego reached into a pocket on her green and black outfit and pulled out a small metal square that was roughly the same size as an individually wrapped brownie snack cake. The square was a light metallic gray, save for a green circular button in the exact center of the square; seeing this button, Yusei realized that it was some sort of remote.
Handing the remote to Yusei, Shego said, "If you ever find yourself in a pickle, you should know what to do." (11)
Slipping the remote into a pocket on the side of his jacket, Yusei said, "Umm, thanks."
Turning to regard her new daughter, Shego said, "Come on, Kai, I'm taking you home now."
"I have a new home too?" Kai asked in a hopeful tone that had more than a dash of excitement.
Smiling while nodding once in the affirmative, Shego replied, "Yeah, you do." With something of a resigned sigh, Shego added, "I ought to introduce you to your Uncle Drakken." (12) Gently taking her daughter by her hand, Shego began to lead Kai away, but stopped short when Crow let out a panicked shout.
"Dude!" Crow exclaimed, "We completely forgot about Bueno Nacho!"
"Holy crap, he's right!" Ron exclaimed. Turning to face Kim, Ron said, "KP, we have to go save Bueno Nacho! Let's go!" Taking Kim by her hand, Ron proceeded to run for Bueno Nacho, more or less dragging Kim along behind him. After Ron and Kim disappeared into Middleton, everyone who was still on the Possible family's property could only just stare into the direction that Ron and Kim went into.
"…I've still yet to figure out what she sees in him," Tim remarked, drawing a nod of agreement out of Jim.
Later over at the parking lot of the local store, Jack and Crow were waiting around Yusei's Volkswagen van, waiting for Yusei and Kalin to get back so that they could all leave. Looking at a watch on his right wrist, Crow said, "The fuck is taking Yusei and Kalin so long to get their asses over here?"
"Well Kalin did say he needed to take care of something that popped up," Jack pointed out, "We ought to give him-" Jack was cut off when he and Crow heard Yusei call out to them. Looking in the appropriate direction, Jack and Crow saw Yusei and Kalin come walking up, carrying one travel case each. Bonnie, who was carrying a third travel case, was with them.
When he, Kalin and Bonnie reached the Volkswagen van, Yusei said, "Umm, there's been a slight change of plans, Jack and Crow." Gesturing to Bonnie, Yusei said, "She and Kalin are apparently an item now, so she'll be moving in with us over at the penthouse."
"You guys live in a penthouse?" Bonnie asked, a surprised and mildly shocked look on her face.
"It's located on the ground and yes, but that's beside the point," Jack replied, "You're seriously dating Kalin, even though he technically killed your sisters?"
"Believe it or not, Kalin killing my sisters is actually one of the single nicest things that anyone has ever done for me," Bonnie replied with a shrug. (13) Turning to face Kalin, Bonnie gently threw her arms around him while saying, "Besides, Kalin is a mature and sophisticated guy who's really good looking." With a smile, Bonnie added, "Lucky me."
"How old are you?" Crow asked, "Because the last girl that Kalin hit on-"
"She's eighteen," Kalin said, interrupting Crow in the process, "And Bonnie hit on me first."
Jack and Crow turned to face each other, then turned back to face Yusei, Kalin and Bonnie. "Well I have no complaints, as this girl clearly isn't some variation of Birdbrain," Jack said to Kalin, "But you will be sharing your room with her, got it?"
"Understandable," Kalin replied as he and everyone else got into Yusei's Volkswagen. After everyone was buckled in, Yusei turned his Volkswagen on, and proceeded to drive back to New Domino City.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Author's notes:
1. That's what Crow told them.
2. Not the only Sinnoh-based character named Cyrus, you know.
3. I myself have trouble remembering the exact addresses of various places in real life, but I can locate those places if I know how to get there in relation to where I'm at.
4. Although not incredibly common, people who have ancestors from the Germanic nations (which includes Germans, obviously) can be redheads. I couldn't find any definite answer as to what Kim's heritage was, so I picked making her Germanic, as it wasn't as obvious as other options. If a definite answer (plus proof that said answer is correct) to what Kim's heritage is can be provided to me, I'll proceed to make the appropriate changes.
5. Smoke grenades probably aren't the best thing to use if you're coughing a lot.
6. Jack worships Dialga now, remember?
7. Yes, this is the death that happens in this chapter. Weird that it occurs in a flashback, huh?
8. Kim will have to pay a lot if she wants a purple lightsaber, as the guys only have one of those.
9. Crow's supposed to be a university dean. You'd figure that he'd at least know the basics of being able to reduce fractions.
10. She calls that a little?!
11. This will come up later. I guarantee it.
12. He's an honorary uncle.
13. This really speaks volumes of how horrible Bonnie's sisters were to her.
My sister was wondering when I was going to do a Kim Possible chapter for this story, so I decided to do this chapter to put her mind at ease. When I started this chapter, my sister requested that I have some sort of horrible fate occur to Bonnie. However, during the research into Kim Possible that I did for this chapter, I discovered that not only does Bonnie have two older sisters who act in a similar manner, but that they both treat Bonnie horribly; I wouldn't be surprised if Bonnie acted the way she did because of how she was treated by her sisters. So, I had Kalin kill Bonnie's sisters with his lightsaber, rather than kill Bonnie herself (that was my plan prior to my research for this chapter). As a side note, I'm sorry that the Bueno Nacho subplot fizzled out without being properly resolved, but the thing that was going on with Bueno Nacho was really just an excuse to get the guys to Middleton, so in a way, it served its purpose well enough.
Anywho, the next chapter should be a good read for you, unless you're too slow!