Chapter 11
As Kim 'escorted' Shego to breakfast, she smiled at what the villains were scheduled to go through as the rehabilitation program planned to start this very day. She looked back at Shego, who went along with her head bowed. yawning now and then. The yawning was apparently quite contagious, especially to Kim, who yawned once herself.
Shego, of course, noticed this right away, and smirked. "Tired, Kimmie?" she asked, smiling smarmily.
"Hey, I've been up longer than you, Stephie dear," Kim tossed back, smiling yet yawning.
Shego sighed, then glared. "Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked, grumbling.
Kim flicked her big green eyes her way. "Because I've been told by our staff that it's important that you be separated from all reminders of your criminal past, that's why. So...with that being the case, you'll stop dressing like you did when you were evil, as well as losing your criminal names," Kim informed the shackled dark-haired girl.
"So what you're telling me is that you want me to stop calling myself Shego---which is my name, by the way---and start wearing something other than my usual uniform," Shego repeated, not liking what she was hearing.
"Precisely," Kim said, nodding. She then brought both her and her charge to a stop outside the dining room and laid her hand next to it opening the door. "After you, Miss Gonzales," Kim offered, beckoning Shego inside with a clever little smile.
Shego glared at her, but did as she was told, much to both of their surprises. After Shego was seated---and restrained, mind you---Kim repeated her escort duties for each and every one of her new 'guests'. Soon, all six of the soon-to-be ex-villains sat around the dinner table, pondering what was about to happen to them next.
"Is it just me…or are any of you getting a feeling of déjà vu?" Shego spoke up, her brow furrowed in confusion. She turned to Drakken, her expression inquisitive.
"Yes, I see what you mean, Shego," Drakken replied, rubbing his chin speculatively. "However, this time around we are all wearier and more confused…although, I for one am glad that I am not attired like some sort of doorman or bellhop."
"Easy for you to say, Doctor D," Shego replied irately. "Kimmie had a little different look in store for me." She lifted her free leg up to rest upon the table top so that Drakken could see the flames stitched upon her pant leg. "Nice, huh?"
Drakken smiled, but with no humor on his dour face. "I see," he responded, eyeing Shego's attractive leg with feigned indifference. "Don't feel as if you are the only one so afflicted, Shego dear. Our fine Ms. Possible had ideas for each of us as well…as you can quite easily see."
Shego frowned a moment, then looked around, only to realize that not one villain was wearing their usual clothing. Heck, she thought, Drakken, whom she had never in anything but his usual attire, was sporting a pair of stone-washed blue jeans and a dark blue denim shirt.
Shego sighed, but was heartened in realizing that she hadn't been singled out. "Eh, you have my condolences, Doctor D. It´s just that..." She then shrugged, sighed again, and rubbed her temples, trying to ward off an impending headache.
"That's quite all right," Drakken told her, giving a small smile. "I know precisely how you feel. Trust me…"
The arch-villains exchanged gripes about their current situation, up until Kim, Ron, and Dr. Director arrived and made their way into the room. Dr. Director marched her way to her seat, but didn't sit down. "Good morning. Now, before breakfast, I've have the following announcements," she declared. "First, after today's breakfast, you all will be attending your very first rehabilitation session. This session will last for approximately one hour. After the session's end, you will be escorted back to your rooms. Your time will be your own for the rest of the morning. Lunch will be promptly served at noon, so I would advise you all to eat hardy, because you won´t get anything else to eat before that time." She looked intently at each of her guest, making quite sure that all and sundry understood her. She then nodded, and gestured to the guards in attendance. One of them spoke quickly into their phone, and in moments, servers arrived carrying in their breakfasts.
The assembled villains had heard Dr. Director loud and clear apparently, for they served themselves heaps of eggs, numerous slices of toast, as well as glass after glass of milk and juice to wash it all down with.
"Well, fellas, time to go," Kim remarked after finishing her breakfast. She beckoned to a dozen GJ guards, who first released their charges, forming up double guards on each villain. "That's right, two of you to each of our 'guests'," Kim instructed. "Now, if you would be so kind, please escort our friends here to Room 305, if you would."
The parade wound its way through the facility to the room Kim specified. The villains were escorted inside, seated, and shackled once more. The Rehab Session room was a stark, totally white room, with a tan linoleum floor. Arranged in a semi-circle were six desks---along with six sturdy cleats in the floor beside each desk, that each villain was shackled to.
"Um, is it just me…or do you all feel like we've gone back to school or something?" Andrea Lynn asked, smirking.
Duff Killigan grunted, then nodded. "Aye, it do, lass. Now, what's th' wretched lass, Possible, thinkin' to be doin' with us, d'ye think?" Duff asked, jerking futilely at his ankle restraint.
"Don't know. But, one thing's for certain…I don´t like it. Not one bit," Shego said, resting her chin on the back of her hand.
Lord Fiske, a.k.a. Monkey Fist, looked down his aristocratic nose at them all. "I shall reserve judgement for the moment, thanks. But, I will say this much..if that girl comes in here and begins with 'Good day, class!', I believe I'm going to scream!" Monkey Fist declared, frowning with disapproval. Obviously, some rest and good food had done little to sweeten the aristocrat's mood.
Any further conversation was interrupted as Kim returned, striding into the room, smiling cheerfully at the villains. Her friend, Ron, followed her in, holding some kind of mysterious box. Kim marched up to place herself before the semi-circle of desks. "Hey, ladies and gents…welcome to your first session," she declared, grinning. "You might like to know that I really haven't got a lot planned for you all to do today," she told them, her green eyes twinkling as they gave her weak but relieved smiles. "Nope! We're just going to through a few trivial things is all, no big. Now, before we start, I've been asked to show you something first," Kim informed the now curious villains. She smiled over at Ron, who turned and opened the box with a flourish.
The villains suddenly saw what was really really within the mysterious construct. The box, if that was what it was, was essentially some sort of mini-cabinet of sorts, holding six very different and distinct pendants. "These pendants have been made especially for each of you," Kim said, smiling.
"What do they do?" Shego asked, instantly suspicious.
"Ooh, aren't we suspicious?" Kim teased, her eyes twinkling at Shego's look of irritation. "Say, Steph…what makes you think they do anything at all?" Kim then added, her expression mysterious.
Shego sat pondering, looking at the pendants. She observed that there was one that looked very much like a tiny tongue of green flame. "Why, you ask? Well, because I seriously doubt that six villains, such as ourselves, are very likely to be receiving gifts, out of the blue, from the likes of you, Kimmie dear," she responded.
Kim smiled, then retrieved the green flame pendant that Shego had first noticed. "You're pretty sharp there, girl. In fact, Stephanie, these six pieces of jewelry do indeed do something. Something that will be to your benefit, in fact," Kim relayed to her, then with a toss of her red hair, she continued. "But, I'm not at liberty to tell you exactly what until after you put them on." She tossed the beautifully crafted pendant over to Shego, who fielded it handily.
"Well, let's say…I, well, don´t choose to put it on? What then, Kimmie?" she demanded.
Kim rubbed her chin, pretending to think. She then grinned confidently, and said, "Oh, I don't know…why then, maybe a few of those nice, friendly gents here will help you put it on then," Kim replied.
Shego looked down at the pendant, then grunted in defeat, putting the necklace on, securing its clasp behind her neck. Shego's eyes went wide a moment later as she heard a faint little click, a click that signaled that the pendant had been fastened.
Kim smiled and thought to herself, one down, five more to go. She took out a pendant, one that represented a miniature blue globe, and tossed it over to Drakken. "This one's yours, Drew. Enjoy it," Kim announced.
Drakken, realizing that it was most likely futile to resist, calmly fastened it just as Shego had. He stared down at the pendant, wondering what he had just gotten himself in for.
Next, Kim retreived the next pendant, one of an onyx monkey, and handed it over to Monkey Fist, who sullenly followed in both Drakken and Shego's tracks.
And on it went: a small red pendant in the shape of a miniature Statue of Liberty for Andrea Lynn; a jasper shaped like a golf club pendant for Duff Killigan; and finally lavender jade pendant of a miniature otterfly for a most receptive DNAmy (that otterthingy she has around her neck all the time). All the remaining villains followed their leaders suit, putting the necklaces around their necks and fastening them.
"Thank you," Kim said, then paused dramatically. "Now…you all wanted to know what these pendants do, right? Didn't you, Steph?" Kim added.
Shego nodded, eager to hear, but also a bit reluctant at the same time.
Kim smiled, thought a moment, then finally replied, "Well, it's sort of hard to explain, really. Here…let me give you an example then." Kim thought a moment, crafting her example. "Let's say that you're rehabilitated, okay? Now, let's say---just for argument's sake, mind you---that you've managed to fool us about being rehabilitated. You've been set free…out into the real world again, right? And, let's say, you spotted something. Something that you really wanted, wanted more than anything you could ever remember. So…having not been rehabilitated, you decide to steal it." Kim paused for a moment, looking to the six villains before her now. "Well, ladies and gents, let me warn you: if you should try something like that, those little pendants or yours will respond by sending electric jolts---painful ones, I might add---up and down your nervous system, from your clever little brains to your feet," Kim told them smugly, then added, "Neat, huh?"
Shego suddenly realized just what Kim was saying to them, and blanched.
"So," Kim said while smiling at Shego. "In plain English, what I'm saying is that little pendant around your necks will stop you---and stop you cold!---from returning to your criminal ways." Kim then made eye contact with of the villains in turn. "So, in essence, what you've just done was this: you have just made certain that you'll never break the law again."
Shego panicked, her eyes bulging, her mouth open, as she tried---vainly---to find a way to unfasten the clasp of her necklace.
"Sorry, Steph…but, I´m afraid that won´t really work all that well," Kim offered. "You see…the only way to open that pendant requires one very special thing."
Shego let her hands fall, then glared over at Kim, her eyes dangerous. "And…that would be…what?" she growled.
Kim grinned triumphantly, holding up a ring of keys. "A key, Steph. That's what. Oh, and by the way, if you try to filch one off this ring, your pendants will respond by giving you a warning zap…a rather meaningful one, if you get my drift."
Shego glowered even more, then sulked, resting her chin in her hands, looking balefully at her other contemporaries.
Kim tried not to gloat…it was beneath her really, but oh was it hard not to want to just then! "So…let me, on behalf of Global Justice, welcome each and every one of you to the wonderful world of law abiding citizens."
The now former-villains looked stunned at one another. This was not good, they thought one and all, not good at all. They pondered their fate for several minutes, their faces falling. Evenutally they all looked over to Kim, who smiled at them.
Shego growled, tugging futilely at her pendant. "Just you wait, Kimmie! I´ll get you for this," she promised the smiling, confident girl.