KP – One Oh One: Part XLVII – The Twin's Last Stand
Just a little bit longer, and it would be time to strike. Gemini clutched the small monitor in his hands, watching as the birthing progressed in what he assumed was the Possible home. Very soon the child would be in the world and he would take it from them. Shego, Sherry Godfrey, the woman he intended to make his right hand, the beautiful young woman he even considered wooing once she had produced the spawn his benefactor sought, would be in no condition to offer any real resistance. Nor would the two red-haired women attending her. He would strike swiftly, using the electrical discharge to stun the two women, then he would sweep in and be away with the newborn before anyone else could respond. Then he would have the child in his contacts hands before anyone could mount any kind of chase.
Kim glanced worriedly at her hand again. It was wreathed in what looked like green fire, though it did not burn. The only sensation she had was of Sherry's crushing grip. The slightly older woman was quite strong on her own, but it quickly became clear that once her powers were active, it made her stronger still. It was only due to Kim's own innate strength that she could withstand the pressure. Even still, there was a determination that she would not let go.
The last thing her mother had said, or at least that registered with her, was that the head was visible. That seemed like an eternity ago. Sherry tilted her head back, gritting her teeth so hard it seemed they would splinter. Perhaps that was the reason people in great pain were given something to bite down on, though with her powers boosted strength, it was likely she would actually bite through anything.
With a stray thought Kim wondered if the glow power gave all the siblings greater strength. It wasn't on the order of what her oldest brother could display, but it would make sense that if they all received their powers together there would be a tiny bit of spill-over. Were Mego and the Wegos slightly stronger than average? Some time she would have to ask them about that, though the self-absorbed purple hued shrinker had been extremely evasive about everything the last time they had spoken.
Not having anything better to do that whisper words of encouragement as her former nemesis tried catching her breath, she wondered what the rest of the men around were doing. Her father had appeared one time, bringing fresh towels and cloths, but there was no sign of Ron. Then too, where was Drakken? He was supposed to be her caretaker, wasn't he? She hadn't even seen him when they got there, though perhaps he wasn't comfortable hanging around in what was, after all, his greatest enemy's home.
Ron was on her mind as well. How was he going to handle it when she was in this position? That they would one day have kids was a foregone conclusion, though thing should be much simpler when it came time. Because of her small frame, her gynecologist had already suggested the safer course would be to plan on a c-section from the very get-go. Roll in, let them take the baby, zip her up and be done. Nice neat and safe.
Of course, she fully expected Ron to pass out sometime in the process. She was a little leery of the prospect herself. Several times she had scrubbed in and observed her mother's work at the hospital, even pitching in during a simulation. She did fine in practice, but when it came to the real thing, the sight of another human's exposed brain was a little too much for her. She barely made it to the lavatory in time. Was the same thing going to happen to her when they cut into her belly? At least Ron would be spared the embarrassment of getting sick. He'd be passed out cold the moment the surgeon displayed the scalpel.
Oh, he wasn't going to get off easy when the time came, though. He was going to be a good husband and be right there for her.
She smiled, despite the mild pain in her hand. Of course, they had to get married first, then they had to get pregnant a few years later. Then they could go though all those wonderful things like mood swings and seeing the doctor almost weekly, painting the nursery, picking out clothes, putting baby seats in the car. Picking names.
That part shouldn't be too bad. Not long after they started dating they did have a sort of meeting of the minds about that subject. It was pretty clear they wanted to name their first boy and first girl after their respective grandparents, though there was till the matter of who got 'first billing' in the matter. At eighteen years old, she found she didn't care, at least for the moment. That could change by the time they were twenty five or so, but there would be plenty of time to hash that out when they time came.
Sherry's hand tensed again and she was sure she could feel the bones crunching against each other. The green glow was brighter than before, traveling down both women's forearms. Black hair was matted against Sherry's scalp from perspiration. "Come on, Doc. What's taking so long? I…want…this…kid…outta…me."
Anne looked up at her and smiled softly. "These things take time Miss…Sherry. You probably don't want to know this right now, but I was in labor with Kimmie far longer than this."
"How's that possible? This's been going, what, two hours?"
Checking her watch, she smiled at her patient once more. "Sorry, it's been about forty minutes. I don't think you're going to even come close to the seven hours it took with Kimmie."
Sherry looked back at the young woman holding her hand. For the first time she noticed her powers were active and the fire winked out. She started to say something, but just stared at their locked hands. Green fire crackled to life again, then died. "You sure have something for torturing people, don't you, Princess?"
"Her name is Kim…Sherry." Anne's voice came out almost like a growl.
"It's okay, Mom. I don't mind so much. Sherry's got much more on her mind right now than what she's supposed to call me."
"Thanks, Punkin." She said between gasps.
Kim gave her hand a sharp squeeze. "Don't push it." She warned.
"On the contrary." Anne corrected, "It's quite the time to push some more."
"GAH! Where's Drakken?" She rasped before straining again.
"Didn't see him. Do you want him here?"
"I dunno. I always thought I was gonna be able to scream at somebody for making me like this."
"Shhhhh." Kim calmed her. "He'd probably say something stupid, like he wished he could share your pain or something, if he didn't pass out."
"Share the pain? You know that old joke, don't you?" She held up her free hand. "I gotta take a break or something."
"You can take a break when your daughter is born, Sherry."
"MAN! Ahhhhhhhh!"
"Would that be the one where a husband asks that and the wife tells him to stretch out his lips with his fingers as far as they can go?"
"Yeah, then…huff, huff…tells him to pull his lips back over his skull!"
"I've heard that one."
"Less talking, more pushing." Anne reminded her. "You're doing great, Sherry. Just a little more and the head will be out."
All three of them looked up as the house shook. Somewhere outside it was either thundering or an explosion had gone off. Being smack in the middle of February, the latter was far more likely.
Kim started to get up, but Sherry tightened her grip, pulling her back down. "You ain't going nowhere, Princess. Your boy is out there somewhere, and so is mine. Trust him, he can handle it. I need you here."
"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Ron quipped as he dodged yet another fingertip missile. It exploded harmlessly on the grass, adding yet another pock-mark in the yard where the twins had been experimenting with rockets and other less-than-harmless projects over the years.
"I fully respect the value of perseverance, Ron Stoppable. When I have set my sights on a goal, I see to it that I achieve it. I expect that from my lackeys, and I expect that from myself."
Ron was frantically looking for something he could use as a weapon, but was coming up empty. He was cursing himself for not thinking of looking up just how many shots the crazed head of WWEE had in his prosthetic hand, even if they one he currently had matched the one that had been taken from him when he was arrested several years earlier.
"Hey, speaking of lackeys, where's short stuff? Did you already offer him a seat?"
Gemini growled, trying to draw a bead on the skinny blonde man harassing him. He knew all too well that he had a limited supply of ammunition, and needed to conserved the power for when he assaulted the birthing room. "That German is a coward. The moment we escaped the annihilation of our headquarters, he took what remained of his men and fled. Rest assured, the next time I have the pleasure of his jaundiced company I will do much more than give him a place to rest."
"You know something, Sheldon? You're either pretty smart, or pretty stupid."
"What are you prattling on about, youngster?"
"Oh, that you either just told me that you're working alone, or that Dementor is trying to sneak up on the house while I've got you busy."
"I…am…not…stupid!" He fired two of the missiles. One flew directly at Ron, the other breaking to the left, effectively flanking him.
Ron somersaulted backwards, barely escaping the first missile. The other almost got him, except he rolled the moment he hit the ground. Gemini pressed the attack. He had studied the fighting styles of his opponents and knew that Stoppable's forte was in dodging, rather than making a direct attack. With his little animal gone, there was no way he was going to be tricked like he had been before. He allowed himself a little grin, thinking of that little pink creature frozen somewhere above his abandoned lair, or lying in the wreckage of the hoverjet.
Then too he was aware that having lost his 'Rufus-factor' Stoppable could be much more dangerous. That point was hammered home when, instead of dodging his assault, he landed a good right hook on his bearded chin.
He shook the blow off. It would take much more than that to stop him. He was a trained fighter, having once worked his way up to the top of his organization by shear determination and more than a little ferocity. One only took the reigns of an international criminal enterprise by being the worst, most ruthless of them all. A little love-tap like that only served to make him angrier.
Gemini had the advantage of size, as well as being the equal or better of his opponent in speed. Barreling straight into him, he bore him to the ground, pinning him to the ground. He landed a good punch on Ron's face with his left, while his bionic hand sought his throat. That appendage was some ten times more powerful than his natural hand and if he was able to get it onto his windpipe, the fight would instantly be over.
Sensing the danger, Ron did the only thing he could think of. It was fighting dirty, but all's fair…
…he brought his knee up as hard as he could. To his shock and dismay, it was like driving his knee into concrete.
"Young fool. I have studied how you and your supposed girlfriend defeated the faux Agent Alpha. Do you think I am so stupid that I would not wear appropriate body armor?"
"Do tell!" Ron kicked again, this time getting a foot between him and his attacker. Gemini may have been significantly heavier, but almost two years of intensive training were paying off. He sent the larger man sprawling, giving him a chance to roll clear.
They circled each other, their eyes locked onto one another's, looking for an opening. Gemini knew his opponent was stronger and faster than he expected, and much more willing to fight directly than he had before. He was not the average boy he had captured several years earlier, who had meekly gone along, waiting to be rescued by Possible while sixteen trained Global Justice operatives and their leader were made fools of.
Other kinds of training were kicking in for Ron was well. He remembered that Gemini had fired his missiles at least a dozen times when they fought in this Atlantic headquarters before he disappeared behind his console, apparently to reload. Three missiles had now been expended and there had to be a limit to his ammunition. Still, he could not take the chance that he had extras somewhere on his person, or hidden nearby. There was also the chance that the man had been lying about Dementor, though it did sound just like the diminutive scientist to cut his losses and run once the going got rough.
Then too, where were his agents? Gemini was smart, perhaps he knew that he would prove to be a very worthy distraction while his men did the dirty work. He risked a glance at the house. The sun was already starting to set, stretching the shadows and making it harder to see.
For half a moment he considered what a long, interesting day it had been.
"Why are you even protecting this woman, Stoppable? After all, she is your enemy. Step aside and let me do what I must. I will leave you and Possible in peace."
"Not gonna happen. She needs our help and that's what Kim and I do, we help people. Besides, somebody I have a great deal of respect for once taught me that it's just as important to help an enemy when they need it, especially when they have done us no harm this day."
"Fool! Do you not know the power Shego holds? Do you not know what she is capable of?"
"Oh, I've got a pretty good idea."
Gemini charge again, feinting with his left while bringing his missiles to bear once more. Ron barely ducked as the tiny projectile flew over his shoulder.
"You missed!" He grinned, listening to the explosion behind him.
"Oh, did I?"
Ron heard the cracking sound too late. Moments later he was pinned under the weight of a shattered pine tree. He knew he wasn't badly hurt, though his already battered legs were pinned and he was certain he was bleeding.
That was the least of his worries. Gemini was standing right over him, pointing his bionic hand. Fins snapped out on the middle finger, ready to fire.
"More proof than ever that you are nothing more than a 'Non-Factor' than ever before. Goodbye, Ron Stoppable!"
"Come on, Sherry. Push!" Anne ordered. The sun was setting outside, yet the room remained well lit with the young woman's powers glowing as they were. Somehow Kim kept her grip, even tough her own hand was bathed in its light. She would have to deal with that later, not knowing what effect the power actually had on human flesh. Every so often her free hand would grip the sheets, which were shredding alarmingly.
"I…can't…take…this…much…longer!"
"I thought you were so tough." Kim chided, wiping the woman's forehead with her free hand.
"Just wait till I'm done here, Princess, and we'll see how tough I am!"
"That's enough of that." Ordered Anne, who was wishing she had somebody to wipe her own forehead. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to order all the men out, though she had no idea how her teenaged sons would handle childbirth. "Remember what you promised me, Miss Godfrey."
"What are you talking about, Mom?" Kim looked at her mother with lidded eyes.
"We'll discuss this later. Push!"
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THIS HURTS?" Sherry screamed, pushing with all her remaining might.
Anne locked eyes with her for a moment, then looked over at Kim. "You're not getting any sympathy from me in that camp, my dear. I've got the stretch marks to prove it. We could have done this the easy way like I recommended."
"Okay, I take it back. I need something!"
"Too late now. We're doing this the old fashioned way. I don't have anything I can give you for it until we're done here. Now just shut up and push!"
Kim felt Sherry's arm start to shake. Her grip relaxed for half a moment, then clamped right back down. She was starting to lose feeling in her fingers, but at least the green fire wasn't affecting her for some reason.
Sherry screamed once more, not bothering to say anything that time, then she went completely limp, falling backwards onto the piled pillows. For what seemed like an eternity she didn't move, making Kim fear something was wrong.
That's when the crying started. She cracked open her eyes, looking down at the red-haired doctor. Anne was cleaning off the tiny, wailing body of the newborn infant. As a smile broke out on her face, the green fire slowly winked out and the color started fading from her skin. It wasn't apparent just how dark it had become in the room until then.
Carefully extracting her numbed fingers, Kim got up from the side of the bed and turned the overhead light on. Anne wrapped the infant in a blanket, careful of the still-attached umbilical cord and placed her on her mother's chest. With her skin returning to its natural hue, it became apparent just how flushed the new mother was.
Kim stuck her head out the door, giving her waiting father some instructions. Moments later, he appeared with a stack of fresh pillows. Shooing him right back out, she set to replacing the sweat soaked cushions as best she could, trying to make her as comfortable as possible.
Ron was wondering if it were actually true that his life was supposed to flash before his eyes. It wasn't happening, or at least his attention was still rooted on the missile, and the fact that the big, gloating man was about to 'give him the finger.' That would have been so funny if it wasn't about to kill him.
Gemini was obviously enjoying having his foe at his mercy, savoring the moment. A wide grin spread between his carefully trimmed whiskers.
Then, suddenly, he started twitching. His body almost doubled over as if some invisible hand were ticking his sides. He started swatting at his body with his free hand as a bulge made its way down his sleeve, toward the hand that remained pointed in Ron's general direction.
His face scrunched up in pain as he gripped his arm. The fins snapped back into the missile and the hand itself suddenly dropped away from his sleeve. Before he could react further, something flew through the air, connecting with the large man's chin.
Rufus crawled out of the now-empty sleeve, having disconnected the hand from its mounts further up the man's arm. He scampered toward the detached hand, grabbing it and hauling it away as best his tiny frame could.
Gemini didn't have a chance to chase after his loose appendage. Another man, larger than Ron but still somewhat smaller than him pressed his attack. Ron had never seen Drakken quite like that before. He had seen him enraged, but that was almost always after one of his schemes had come undone at Kim's hands. This time his rage had focus, and he was taking it out on the man who had threatened a loved one.
What he saw actually scared him a little bit. His small fists kept flying, pounding the surprised man about the face and upper body. He wasn't Doctor Drakken, the mad scientist any longer, he was just a man, a man defending Shego and those who sought to protect her. There was a new, wilder look in his eyes as he hammered his opponent, not giving him a chance to even bring his one remaining hand up to defend himself.
Painfully, he finally wrenched his legs free from the branches of the tree. There was indeed some blood, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The extended branches had kept the bulk of the tree's weight off of him, sparing him from being crushed under it.
By the time he got to his feet, Gemini was on the ground himself, with Drakken standing over him, panting. Both men were breathing hard, but it was clear who the victor was.
His lips curled up into a snarl and he drew back his hand to strike once more until Ron's hand came to rest on his forearm. "Drakken, it's over, you won."
He spun around, almost snarling at the younger man, but once again his eyes met with compassion, blunting his rage.
"You won." Ron repeated, hoping those words would get to him.
"I…won?" He backed up slightly.
A light went on in the guest room. They could see people moving around and they could clearly see a black-haired woman on the bed, tended to by two red-heads.
"Go to her." Ron commanded.
"What about this." He pointed a tiny finger at the semi-conscious man moaning on the ground.
"I'll deal with Sheldon. Uh, doc, you wouldn't happen to have a cell-phone, would you? Kim's still got my Kimmunicator."
Drakken looked at him in confusion for a moment, then reached into the pocket of his shabby trousers. He pressed the device Kim's mother had given Shego several months ago into his hand.
It took him a few moments, but Ron finally recalled the emergency number for Global Justice. It wouldn't take them long to get there, since there was a tube entrance right in front of Kim's house.
Sherry was lost in her daughter, who was cradled on her chest. So many years spent believing all her being was nothing more than the villainess she had been playing were washed away in that moment. She didn't even consider the fact she had just given birth in her enemy's home, or the fact she had sworn to give up that war just so this day could come. All that mattered to her in that moment was the tiny life she held in her arms for the first time.
Kim sat down beside her, marveling at precisely what she was witnessing. At least for the moment, that was Sherry Godfrey lying there, a new mother and not her one-time enemy. She pretty much figured that her mother had extracted some kind of promise from her, though, of course, she would never truly be able to completely trust her.
Anne busied herself putting away her instruments and cleaning up as best she could. The cord was cut and tied off and she still wanted to get both of them into a hospital, but that wasn't the time to try and convince the woman. All in all, it had been a good birth and she thought with just a touch of bitterness that Sherry really didn't experience the sheer joy of taking hour upon hour in delivery.
Kim pulled out Ron's Kimmunicator and called up Wade. There was still the matter of a proper birth certificate, and if anyone could get one filed without having to answer a lot of interesting questions, it would be him.
"Thought of a name yet?" Kim asked as her friend waited patiently on the screen.
"Amethyst Nell Argus. Yeah, she's gonna have her father's name." She added in response to Kim's questioning look. "Nell's as close as I can think of for Neil."
"That's really pretty. How did you come up with Amethyst?"
She reached down into her top, pulling a gold chain that had been hidden inside. Hanging from it was a ring, bearing a single purple stone. "This was Neil's. I kinda figured it would be appropriate to remember him by." She stared at the ring, lost in thought for a moment. Kim was sure she was remembering the big man who had once been her high school sweetheart.
"I just realized something." Sherry said softly, cooing at her daughter.
"What's that?" Kim asked.
"Remember her father?
Kim nodded. It was sad Neil Argus couldn't be there to see her. He had given his life to save both women, as well as the greater part of the east coast and likely the whole world.
"Today would have been his birthday. That means it's hers too."
"Wow…that's great."
"Yeah. Just wish she could have had a daddy." Sherry closed her eyes, gently cradling the tiny child. She already had a shock of very dark hair, making Kim think that perhaps that was what her mother had looked like when she was born.
Kim looked up as the door opened and realized there may be a possibility the child just might have someone to call 'Daddy' after all. She had never seen Drakken look quite like that. He only had eyes for the two dark-haired women in the room.
He quickly crossed over to the opposite side, laying an obviously bruised hand on her head. That reminded her of the explosions she heard outside. Rushing past the reunited evil duo, she made her way out, not taking time to climb down the steps but vaulting right over the deck rail, landing in a dead run.
There were at least a dozen GJ agents milling around. A trio of them were leading a heavily bound Gemini away. One of the men she recognized as a former FBI agent who had been working for the 'Special Unit' during their mission down in South Carolina.
She didn't care about that. The only thing she cared about was the man sitting on the ground nearby, having his leg looked at by a medic. He looked up as she approached, giving her his trademark goofy grin. Kneeling down beside him, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a huge kiss.
"It's a girl." She said softly, watching as the bandage was completed.
"Cool." He responded, a little breathlessly.
"You okay?"
He nodded. "Just a little cut, that's all. Hope this time they lock that creep away for good."
She buried her head on his shoulder. "Do they ever?"
He laughed slightly. "No. Guess that's why we're around."
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney