Cold Water, Hot Blood.

"What are you doing here?" Monkey Fist said, furiously. "You're one of us!"

"Not for something like this." Shego said, then, realizing that Barkin and Ron were coming up, she continued, "and, ah, they're paying me."

"Will it cover your funeral?" Fist snarled, leaping forward. Shego dodged, but he was faster…and moved…strangely. There was a disjointedness to his movement that made it hard to predict where he was going to be. It wasn't monkey style, it wasn't…anything.

Disturbing. It was faintly disturbing, as was the strange feeling that set her teeth on edge when he nearly hit her, like something was trailing in the wake of his attacks. She spun around and smashed him in the back with her fire. He should have died, but her plasma seemed to splash, and a feeling like static electricity ran up her arms.

"What's wrong, Shego? Losing your touch?" Monkey First snarled. "Like how you helped that bitch Possible?" He smiled, "Tell me, where is she now and does she still have control of her bowel movements-" Shego didn't say a thing, in fact, she dropped back a little.

"What is the matter, Shego, did you-AIGGH!" Ron had heard what he said and didn't bother with witty banter or playing fair. He struck Monkey Fist hard, in the lower back. Shego heard bones splinter. The crazed martial artist fell to the floor in agony, and as he tried to spin around and kick Ron, a hard driven foot shattered the bones in his hand.

"AIGGGHHH!"

"You should watch your mouth about Kim." Ron said very calmly. "This is the land known for politeness, after all." Shego grinned. She didn't think the kid had that kind of statement in him. Much better than going all "how dare you say that about Kimmie!" Suddenly, the deck lurched, throwing them all off balance, as billowing clouds of steam started exploding from the water by the center of the ship.

"Time to go!" Barkin said. "Get Monkey Fist and-"

"NOOO!" Monkey Fist screamed in fury and rose to his feet. For a moment, Shego's mind blanked. He couldn't do that. Nobody could do that with a broken back. Then, he threw himself off the ship…directly into the steam. Ron started to go after him, but Shego grabbed his arm.

"Fist is broiled, Ron, Let's go before we join him!"

Their underwater sleds were at the far end of the ship, but even so the water was uncomfortably hot, as they sped back to the dock. By the time they got there, the entire center of the ship was glowing a dull cherry red. Ron hoped none of the monkey ninjas were still alive in that oven. Then, red turned to orange and then white, and with a tremendous explosion, the boilers went, sending steam, water and shrapnel into the bay. Even where they were, Ron heard fragments pattering over the roof.

"Kyoko." Barkin said, "What about radiation?"

"None, Barkin-sama." The girl said. "The level of radiation—well, nuclear radiation, gamma, rays, and such is within 1 percent of natural levels. Heat radiation…is considerably greater." She finished, looking up as the first Self Defense Force patrol boats moved out to the explosion.

"There is going to be a big front page tomorrow." Ron said.

"Yes. Pity about that fertilizer ship…do you know that fertilizer, stored improperly, can be quite dangerous?" Shego said. Ron blinked.

"You're kidding."

"Well, except for some websites." Barkin said. "They get the exact truth… just like they did about area 51." Ron glared.

"You knew about that? Do you know how long it took my rep to recover from those pictures?"

"I thought they were cute, Ron-sama, when Wade shared them with me." Kyoko commented.

"What! Ron said, turning red. "aww…man who else did Wade share those with?"

"Well, now you look like a well cooked lobster, Ronny." Shego said. She paused, "And speaking of your techno-nerd friend…" A familiar object was produced from a bag she had in the limo. Ron blinked at it. It was Kim's spare Kimmunicator. The one he'd left in the hospital, unplugged, six months and an eternity ago.

"Shego…" He said. She grinned, then got serious.

"Walk with me, kid."

"Can I come?"

"No, Kyoko—this is adult business, so you stay with Stevie and ask him about Wannaweep." Both Ron and Barkin shuddered at that. Tugging Ron out of the area, Shego waited until they were out of sight.

"So, nice job—no hesitation there." She shrugged, "How's it feel to have taken down Monkey Fist so quickly?" Ron paused, remembering the crunch.

"At the time…fine." He paused, "But even Mr. Barkin isn't- Shouldn't we?"

"What? Do the hero thing and risk our lives? No, he got into the business, he knew what he was in for." She paused, "Remember, if he'd made his sale, he'd have killed millions—because first link or last, the blood on the hands is the same." Shego finished, and Ron noticed that she was looking at her hands.

"Shego…" Ron said quietly. "I listened in on part of that talk you had with Mr. Barkin."

"How?" Shego slapped her head, "Oh, right, techno-nerds…" Ron didn't let himself be deterred.

"What's wrong with being a hero?" Shego paused, and Ron saw suddenly that she was absolutely serious, her eyes looking into his.

"Because like I said, it's a losing proposition… you give and you give and you give…and pretty soon people come to expect you to be a hero, to be heroic, to keep giving…until there's nothing where you used to be." Her voice got softer. "No room for flaws or little hobbies—just 24/7 on duty. And when you fall, everyone looks at you and pat themselves on the back…because they saw it coming…had to expect it and pride goeth before a fall and all that." She absently ran a finger along a concrete pillar, green plasma drawing a line in it.

"Kim wasn't the first, remember." She continued, "They come and they go…and the lucky ones, like Nana Possible, get out and have a life." She laughed, "But then people ask 'where did they go?', and you can hear what's underneath—'how dare they leave us to clean up our own messes!'"

Ron looked over at the bay, the lights of the emergency vessels still flashing.

"I can't accept that." Ron said. "Maybe you can get too lost—but do nothing, just because it might be dangerous?" He paused, "You helped here…and was it really the money?" Shego looked uncertain.

"Maybe it was because Monkey Fist is one of our lunatics." She said. "Cleaning his mess upis kinda a responsibility." She paused, and a smile flickered, "And yeah, the money had something to do with it." Then, there was another laugh, "And of course, the chance to see you in action…and show you the ropes a little."

"How did you know-" Ron paused, " Wait a minute, Kyoko?"

I didn't' know I was going…

"Well, a little bird tapped the phone and heard Sensei mention who was coming down." Shego said.

"You set me up!?"

"Not entirely."

"Shego, you had the Yakuza chase Kyoko!"

"That wasn't part of the plan." Shego countered, defensively. "I told her to not go digging after we found out the main part of the plan, but you know kids—they always have to go one further. She tipped someone off, and they told Monkey Fist, and he hired the Yakuza. I didn't know about that until too late to do anything else." She grinned, "Besides, you handled it, and got a new girlfriend out of it. She'd been dying to meet you and was eager to help." Ron groaned.

"My turn." Shego said. "If Barkin carries out his end of the bargain." Ron started to say something, but Shego raised her hands, "You've got the money, but quashing criminal charges is a different breed of horse—that requires daylight operations, and most intelligence types try to stay under the rocks. He'll try, but that might be refused by his superiors…or they may decide it makes a nice hold on you two." She shook her head at the image.

"But anyway, lets say that tomorrow morning, you get a pardon, signed by the president of the U.S., all is forgiven, come on home—we kept your homeroom class warm for you." She looked at Ron, "What then? Be a good little boy and go home?"

"Well…"

"Or stay here and learn more…and then go out and take the world by storm." She gripped him by the arm. "Kid, you're both way out of that school's league. You want to be a merc, I can think of five or six different organizations that would love to have you. Stay in the hero business? Well, stupid decision, but you can do a hell of a lot better then a TV in a school locker." Shego laughed, "Or just take that money and travel—some ops with me, and I guarantee you that you'll be making a cool million a year in interest payments alone…and it'll be from legal investments."

"It doesn't have to be super-villain stuff either." Shego continued, "Do Kim's thing—but have a bill…if you want to feel better, let people pay what they can afford, but get the hell out of this charity business. Remember that super freezer ray thingie that you and Kim recovered?"

"Yeah?"

"It cost 44 million dollars. Down time to make another one was about 60 million dollars. How much did you get out of it?"

"Er…" Ron paused, and looked down at his foot. Rufus had followed them, and he reached down and picked the pet up. "A major stomach ache, some free coupons, and… an F on a paper the next day."

"Chicken feed. You saved them 104 million dollars, minimum, and they gave you chicken feed. That was no village of poverty stricken farms-- that was a Fortune 500 company. You think they respect your selflessness?" Shego put one hand on his chest, trailing a finger down the center, and lowered her eyes. "Tell you what… anytime you feel like it, I'll act as your manager—write your contract, even look for jobs… 10 percent off the top for my fee." She paused, "Cause if making money was a sin, Stoppable, why do so many people do it? A lot of them are a lot worse than any villain you ever saw."

"Worse than Drakken?" Ron said, trying to spark some humor. The humor died before Shego's eyes.

"Yeah. Lots worse." She paused. "But I'm gonna let you have all the money for this one—no 10 percent off the top."

"Oh?" Ron said, and found that Shego had somehow maneuvered him to where he was backed up against the wall.

"Yeah—I'm taking a vacation…starting now. I have a VTOL board in this building, and well…sometimes these secret agent types get a little antsy if you know too much… Not a problem for you—yet, but one for me. " Then suddenly, she was very close to him. "And," she said, breathing into his ear, "I'll take this ten percent in a different way…"

"How-mgphl!" Ron suddenly was crushed back against the wall as Shego hungrily kissed him, pressing her curvy body to his. For a second, Ron didn't know what to so, but then his hands fell to Shego's hips and they started to move- Then he pushed her away…a feeble push, but one that Shego respected.

"I…Shego, I'm kinda with Kim." He said. Shego laughed,

"I know that, silly…that wasn't to take you way from her, that was to see if I'm missing anything." She winked. "And, I think I may be." Shego turned and started walking off. "You can take Kyoko back home…" she said as she neared the end of the alley. "Oh." Shego said, turning, "One last thing. I won't poach Kimmie's territory, Ron…but if she's ever dumb enough to dump you…don't be a stranger." With a laugh, she vanished, and moments later, Ron heard the sound of a turbine revving, and saw a familiar flight board vanish into the sky.

"Wow." He said, before starting back.

To be continued.