Shego adjusted the gloves on her new costume, resisting the urge to burn them to fragments as she did. Her new costume still incorporated the same color scheme as her old one, but the new design and the armor pads reminded her too much of him.
Slade.
She couldn't even think his name without having to strangle down the urge to vomit. Shego had worked with some pretty nasty types in her time, and had even once had the conviction to consider herself the worst of them all, but none compared to him. He was everything Drakken was not. Cold, ruthless even to those that served him, lethal, and inhumanely patient. Shego had once mused that she would have gladly left Drakken's employ to work with someone like him.
"Guess the grass really is greener."
"Disciple!" A metal voice boomed out of Shego's earpiece, interrupting her thoughts.
"Take the tone with me again, and they'll be finding pieces of you for weeks." But Shego's wrists would not allow her mind to indulge in such a violent fantasy and brought her to attention.
"Yes." Shego answered rather simply.
On the other side of the line, the voice of her new master spoke. "The message has been delivered. Kim Possible is all ready. Do you have everything for your mission?"
"Oh please, it's just the sidekick. I could handle him with one arm, while sick in bed, and my eyes closed." Shego said with no small amount of modesty.
"Fail me, and I promise you, missing limbs will be the least of your ailments." With that, the radio went dead. Shego growled, and for a moment, considered grabbing the mini-microphone and crushing it to fragments, before melting the fragments to ooze. But something in her decided "not yet. Not yet."
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"You sure this lead is solid?" Kim asked with a fierce determination.
"Positive Kim." The image of Wade on the Kimmunicator came through loud and clear, even over the roar of the turbulence around her as Kim was on the edge of her seat in the cargo hold of a delivery plane flying over downtown Middleton. "The small stain that came off of Slade's boot on Ron's neck is actually a chemical compound used to lubricate automated assembly lines, and there just happens to be a recently abandoned assembly plant near the location of the warehouse where you first met this 'Slade.'"
Kim frowned. It wasn't the most solid piece of evidence that she had ever heard of, but it was the best one so far. She was tired of waiting for Slade to show up at some other place of his choosing. She was going to find him first this time, take the fight to him for a change. Kim looked down at the buckle of the blue battle suit she was wearing. She had only worn it once before, and in all that time, it still hadn't undergone the formal testing that Wade had insisted on. But Kim knew she was going to need it, because this was going to be it. She was going to bring Slade in. No more shadows in the dark, no more late night battles, no more having to explain injuries to her and Ron's parents. Slade was going down. And after that…. after that would come the hard part.
"Kim, are you sure you don't want me to contact Ron? I mean, even with the battle suit, it seems to me like you are going to need some back u…"
"NO." Kim spoke with a furious resolve that threatened to bite Wade's head off. After what happened to him last night, she couldn't bear the thought of him being anywhere near Slade, or her for that matter. "No, he needs to rest. He had a rough night last night." Kim's voice softened with a slight remorse.
"From what I hear, you didn't have a great time ei…" but Wade was cut off once again.
"Let me know if anything else comes up. Out." And with that, Kim flipped off the Kimmunicator and placed it back in her pocket. It was close to jump time.
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"Kim! Kim!" Ron called up to the tree house that had once been their own private sanctuary away from the world. Even as he rubbed in his neck, Ron's mind filled with concern, but not for himself. Never for himself.
Last night's incident, compounded with his injuries, had kept him from really speaking with Kim, and he could only guess the thoughts going through her mind. He needed to find her, talk to her. This thought had all but consumed him, placing his own care as nothing but a secondary concern. When Kim's mother had told him that she wasn't home, and in fact, hadn't even come downstairs for breakfast that morning, alarms had gone off in Ron's mind. He had promised Kim's mother to bring her home, safe and sound.
But try as he might, it seemed that she had vanished from the face of Middleton. Ron knew that she couldn't be on any mission, or else Wade would have called him. That left only so many other places that she could be. The mall, Club Banana, Bueno Nacho, Ron had made a list, checked it twice, checked it again and been up and down it almost twice now. Yet she was nowhere to be found. He had called their friends, assorted kids from school, and eventually, in utter desperation, even Bonnie, to see if any of them had seen her. They hadn't, not a one.
Ron's spirit was beginning to sink to new lows as he made his way across the Park for the third time this day. It was back to the top of his list.
The mall.
Summer days usually saw the mall stores packed on the weekends, mostly with kids buying new swim trunks or other related items for summer vacations. Kim usually found her way over there at least twice a week to make sure she didn't miss any good sales. Yet one more of Kim's endless skills, she knew how to get the most out of a storewide saving. Ron smiled as he remembered back to simpler times, with him trapped in Club Banana's "Young Women" section, left holding piles of items that he could well be arrested for if he were ever seen in public in, while Kim would furiously look for something on sale that satisfied her taste of the moment.
But not today. Ron searched in and out of every store that Kim ever shopped in, and even the ones that Ron would normally have to drag her into, just to make sure.
Nothing.
Ron's stomach growled at him fiercely, but his heart's weight seemed to cancel it out. However, his heart could not block out a slight whimper coming from his pants pocket. Ron looked down to see a pitiful naked mole rat tugging at his shirt, and rubbing his stomach almost painfully.
"Sorry buddy. We got work to do."
"Please." Rufus pleaded. "Sooo hungry."
Ron had to admit, the constant searching was taking a toll on him as well. Both fatigue and hunger were taking their toll on his body, and Ron was forced to surrender to the need for food and rest, both from his stomach and his little buddy.
There was no Bueno Nacho at the mall, so Ron got in line for some pizza, hoping that maybe the food might improve his mood. Or that perhaps Kim would be passing through and see him, though something in the back of his mind told him not to bet his college savings on it.
Ron's pessimism was swept aside as a crashing sound, followed by a high pitched scream, came from within the food court. Ron turned around to see two tall figures, completely clad in black and grey with metallic, clawed gloves, and black masks with orange circles centered around the facial areas, standing atop a shattered table; the couple eating there already backing away. For a minute, the two figures scanned their surroundings, before their gaze finally came around to Ron. Silently, the two agreed and moved forwards, converging on their target.
Ron let out a slight gulp as the pair moved to flank him. "I don't suppose you want me to try the latest fragrance for my girlfriend?" Ron replied.
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Kim took a long look at the skylight to the building. No steel doors or shields and no booby traps. This seemed way too sloppy for Slade. Kim's anxious mind was already beginning to doubt Wade's analysis. Still, she hadn't come this far to turn back now.
Kim's footsteps were as light as air. Even as she dropped down to the cold hard floor, she never made a sound, moving within the shadows. Her senses were alert, taking in every sound, and every trickle of light. The room itself was still lit with sunlight slowly filtered in through the dirt covered windows. Dead machines and empty boxes littered the otherwise empty room, completely undecorated, lest one counted the dirt. Kim hated this place. It reminded her too much of a few nights ago. She tried to stay within the shadows, hoping to remain unseen as she moved through the rest of the building.
It didn't take her long to realize that she wasn't alone.
A loud creek echoed in the next room. Kim leapt through the air, landing with flawless grace and silence. She moved into the next room, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.
"Hello again, Kim. It's been far too long."
Kim didn't respond as she tried to find the body to go along with the voice.
"You needn't bother trying to find me. In fact, I'm not even here. A simple microphone. I hope you don't think it rude of me, but I'm afraid I had something more than this rundown place set for our final little dance."
Kim could tell that Slade's voice was being broadcast through the system already set up in the building. She imagined it would have taken Slade all of ten seconds to rewire it and connect it to a transmitter of his own, from which he could be speaking from any location within a twenty mile radius.
"Hiding behind a voice box. I thought you liked to get up close and personal." Kim replied to the empty room.
"Oh I do. In fact, I'm more than willing to finish this little game of ours face to face."
"This is no game." Kim's voice dripped like acid.
"So, you're finally starting to learn." Slade's voice seemed almost pleased, and this thought made Kim nauseas. "What a pity that you still seem to think of me as your enemy."
"You're kidding, right? You're a sadistic, self-centered, obsessive, maniac."
"Well, I am far too modest. But in time, you will come to appreciate these traits in me, and in yourself." Slade's voice grew even colder (if such a thing was possible) as this last statement.
"I'm nothing like you." Kim replied fiercely.
"Not quite, but you're learning."
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Ron ducked a grab from one of the goons, only to turn around and catch a kick with his stomach, sending him flying into another table.
Already, mall patrons had begun scrambling for the nearest way out, leaving Ron to himself.
"Boy, the sales people here are getting mean." Ron commented to no one in particular. He looked up just in time to see a metal booted foot nearly pin him to the ground, but Ron rolled to the side, and then kicked out, tripping the assailant to the ground.
Ron rose up to see the second one leap out at him. Reacting quickly with a move he had learned in Japan, Ron reached out, actually catching the second goon in the air, and then tossing him into his rising companion.
Thinking fast, Ron grabbed two handfuls of ketchup packets off a nearby counter and then took off running. He didn't get far before he could hear the hard thuds of heavy feet chasing after him. He permitted himself to take a quick peek behind him. Sure enough, both henchmen were in close pursuit.
Armed with his ketchup packets in hand, Ron turned around quickly and hurled the condiments as though he were wielding a deadly weapon.
The first handful, struck true, landing just in front of the feet of the nearest pursuer. As Ron had hoped, its heavy feet crushed the packets, squirting red condiment everywhere. The slippery substance caused the masked figure to briefly loose its footing at such a fast pace, its feet sliding out from beneath it as it landed face first on the ground.
The one further back, however, easily leapt over the simple attack and continued its chase. Panicking, Ron ducked inside a nearby hardware store.
By the time the second henchmen had arrived, he had lost sight of his query. Pausing for a moment, he scanned his surroundings, taking a few cautious steps inside the store.
From behind, a blonde young man wielding a crowbar struck in the back of the head, knocking the henchmen to the ground. Dropping the crowbar, Ron immediately rushed over behind a nearby aisle and pushed with all his strength. Sure enough, the entire aisle, shelves, displays and all, came tumbling over, landing right on top of the stunned henchman, burying him in home gardening implements.
"Ron! Ron, are you there?"
Ron's ears immediately perked up as he heard the blissful sound of his girlfriend's voice calling to him. He quickly rushed out of the store and into the mall's ground floor.
"KP! Oh man, where are you, I need help!" Ron called out in desperation, even as he could see the first henchman with the ketchup stained feet rising.
"Over here." Kim's voice carried from down a nearby corridor, which Ron's memory told him, lead down to the rest rooms, and a fire exit. Without thinking twice, Ron turned and run down the narrow passage out, only to stop in horror at the sight.
"Oh Ronnie, you're my hero you big stud." Kim's voice poured out of the voice amplifier in Shego's hand as the super villain stood there proudly. "Looser." Shego spoke with her own voice before kicking out, sending Ron spiraling into darkness.
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"So, are we going to just sit here and talk all day?" Kim asked, her voice a mixture of impatience and rage.
"Not at all. In fact, you've given me all the time I needed. You're so predictable Kim. For all your impressive skills and abilities, you have but one critical weakness, one crucial flaw and he's the one thing that will keep you from ever defeating me." Slade responded with no small amount of smugness.
A slow horror dawned on Kim as her face went white with terror. "Oh god. Ron!"
Kim never said another word as she raced out of the building, praying that it wasn't too late… too late to be forgiven.