10. Together
Without even so much as a sound, Kim touched down on the cold stone floor, careful to avoid the sand and crumbled stone that would alert guards to her presence. Stalking through the shadows, full active-camouflage engaged, she was barely even in the stone compound, a mere spectre as much as a presence in the compound.
Drifting between shadows, Kim made her way down the long hall filled with stone pillars until she reached the barred entryway into the chamber. Becoming still as the stone, she scanned the area with her eyes to find the best way in.
"Son of a... you really fell for it," a voice came from behind the bars. Kim narrowed her eyes to peer into the moving form in darkness but it suddenly lurched onto its feet and moved towards the front. The tall, dark haired, pale-skinned woman clutched the bars of her prison and stared directly at Kim. "Are you out of your mind? You have a family and you're still doing this crap?"
Kim blinked behind her mask. "You can... see me?"
"I don't need to see you, Princess," said Shego. "You're as loud as an elephant stampede." She glanced down the hall. "Don't worry, they check here about once ever 45 minutes, you've got some time."
Kim sighed and pulled down her face mask. "Are you okay? You look... terrible... but not dead, so an improvement over yesterday."
"Senior hasn't been feeding me very much to keep me from having the strength to break out," said Shego. "I've been rationing out some of it too for when I escape. That was under the assumption, of course, that you would never abandon your family and fly across the world to save your ex-nemesis when she could very well free herself." Shego crossed her arms. "So much for my assumption."
"Well, you know what they say about when you assume things."
"Gee, where are we, 3rd grade?" mocked Shego.
"I could very well leave you here," said Kim.
"Hah, I dare you."
Kim started to sneer at Shego then stopped and frowned.
"What happened?" asked Shego.
"I'm really glad you're alive," Kim said softly. "I always thought you were, but we never had any evidence."
"I'm sorry, Kimmie," Shego said. She leaned against the bars. "But, if this hadn't happened, I would have stayed dead."
"What do you mean?"
"I left, on purpose." Shego sighed. "I got outta Syndicate before it lit up like a roman candle, but I had no intention of coming back. After the smoke cleared I just headed east and didn't look back. Senior only picked me a month ago."
"You wanted us to think you were dead?" Kim asked, a little irritated.
"I didn't want anyone coming after me." Shego looked around at her cell. "I guess that didn't work out as planned."
"Wait, why? Why did you do that? Why did you try and fake your death?"
Shego looked into Kim's eyes. "Because I was done with that life, or at least I thought I was. If I was dead, then I wouldn't have to spend as much time looking over my shoulder at old enemies." She grumbled. "I didn't really think Senior Senior Senior wouldn't believe I was dead."
Kim shook her head. "You could have at least told me. I would have kept your secret. Instead of wondering this whole time if I sent you to your death."
Shego looked a little happy. "I guess I never thought I could trust you until now."
"Not even when you were a bridesmaid at my wedding?" Kim put her hand to her hip... not that Shego could see it.
"Well, I knew you trusted me," shrugged Shego. Kim just rolled her eyes.
"Stand back, I'm going to open the cage."
Shego backstepped slightly as Kim produced a pen-laser from... nowhere. A few flicks of her wrist and the bars clattered to the floor. Shego strode forward, a little uneasily.
"Here," offered Kim. She had a brown rectangle wrapped in plastic.
"What's that?" Shego took it and sniffed it experimentally. "Explosives?"
"I won't comment on the taste," Kim warned. "But it's an energy bar GJ has been working on. It supposedly gets absorbed right into the bloodstream starting in the esophagus. It should help a little with your malnutrition."
Shego unwrapped the brown bar and stared at it as if it had grown a head.
"It's high in vitamin C, too," said Kim.
"Great, no scurvy for me," said Shego. Hesitatingly, she brought it up to her mouth and took a bite. She chewed for a few moments, apparently struggling, then swallowed, causing tears to form in her eyes. "Oh god that was terrible."
"Hmm," mused Kim. "Yeah, don't look at me about that one. Eat it all though."
"Are you torturing me? All of it?" Shego paled... more.
"Better eat it now and have energy later, than be caught in a battle and collapse."
Solemnly, Shego bit it the bar again.
Several excruciatingly long bites later and the bar was gone. Kim patted Shego on the back. "Good job!"
"Don't do that," Shego said simply. "I might vomit."
"No time for dramatics, we need to disable that weapon."
"I hope we pass a bathroom on the way," commented Shego. "I'm feeling sick."
Kim pulled her mask back over her head, vanishing from sight, just as the floor suddenly began shaking violently. Kim put a hand to the pillar beside her to steady herself and Shego widened her stance. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stilled.
"What was that?" asked Kim, afraid of the answer.
"I hope that wasn't--"
A deafening sound like the screech from twisting metal rung out and both Kim and Shego clutched their ears to protect them from the pain.
"How do we get to the weapon?" yelled Kim, leaning closer to Shego. The once thief had a strained look on her face as she desperately held her hands against her ears.
"The whole place is the weapon!" yelled Shego in reply. "We're standing inside of it!"
"What?" asked Kim. "How is that possible?"
"The weapon is huge and relies on a subterranean reactor resting on a thermal vent. This whole building is a giant capacitor!"
"How the heck do we destroy it then?"
Shego stared at Kim with wide eyes, then ran off. Kim silently stalked behind her, keeping pace with the emaciated prisoner. The long dark shadows of the large hallways made it easy for Kim to maximize her stealthy dash, but every time Shego turned to talk to her she seemed to know exactly where she was.
"You got any GJ toys or explosives in that suit of yours?" Shego asked. The screeching noise had stopped leaving only a gentle rumbling behind so she didn't need to yell.
"Nothing GJ, just some Wade gadgets," answered Kim. "Seriously, how are you able to tell where I am?"
"Is this really the time, Princess?"
"It looks like we're about to end up a bit more dead, so, there may not be another time." Kim leapt to the other side of Shego to stay in the shadows as they ran past a doorway. Shego turned her head immediately to face Kim, running past the doorway without concern.
"See? How did you know I moved?"
Shego shook her head. "I can feel you."
"Feel me?" Kim asked. "You can... feel when I'm near?"
"Your suit is giving off some kind of radiation," added Shego, stumbling slightly over some rubble. She faced forward again. "I can feel it on my skin."
"You can sense some forms of radiation?"
"Apparently," said Shego. "It's something I've been noticing recently. I guess it's a sympathetic force caused by the energy I generate. I can feel the reactor beneath us, and the walls slowly building a charge. I'm hoping that the other thing I'm feeling is the core of the weapon." She slowed as they came to a junction with another hallway then turned right and sped up again. "This way."
"Can we get it to self destruct?" asked Kim.
"Well, Drakken built it so... chances are there's a way."
The two dashed around another corner but Shego lost her footing and slipped, hitting the ground hard. Kim immediately turned back to help her up.
"Agh," groaned Shego, rubbing her hip. A cut on her forehead bled slowly down her temple.
"Jeeze, Shego," said Kim, pulling a square pad from her suit, causing it to appear suddenly. She slipped it gently onto the wound. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I'm fine," she waved Kim off. "Just a little weaker than I thought. I'll be alright." She rubbed her forehead and started to stand. She got onto one foot before teetering to the side. Kim grabbed her gently and helped up the rest of the way.
"Fine, huh?"
"We don't have time for this," said Shego. "Just keep going down this hall, I'll catch up."
"Not happening," said Kim, pulling down her mask. "Put your arm over my shoulder."
Shego pushed her away instead, staggering momentarily then regaining her balance. "Get going you fool! I can feel the weapon building power. When this capacitor reaches its limit we'll already be dead!"
"I came here to save you, I'm not leaving you behind," said Kim. She closed her eyes. "Ron is probably at GJ right now monitoring this place. He's ready to bomb this place before the weapon has a chance to fire."
"You idiot! Like Ron would ever knowingly kill you, even to save the world!"
Kim opened her eyes and leveled them at Shego. "He would to save Julie though."
"Julie?" asked Shego, puzzled.
"Our daughter."
Shego blinked. "You had a girl," she said, momentarily forgetting her anger. "Julie," she repeated. "Born on the day of that..."
Kim nodded.
"Is she..." Shego started to ask, then stopped, looking away.
"She's beautiful," said Kim. "She deserves a more beautiful world than this one to grow up in."
"Hah," chided Shego. "You have some seriously screwed up priorities." She began walking down the hallway.
"Like you're one to judge," said Kim.
"You don't know what I've been doing these past two years. You might be impressed." Shego began jogging again.
"You can tell me all about it when we get out of here."
Shego nodded silently and said nothing until they reached the end of the hallway and entered the large circular atrium in the center of the tower.
"Holy..." Kim said.
The atrium was more than ten stories tall and largely hollowed to allow a huge metal construct to run the height of the tower before diving into the dark shadows below. Half of the machine in the center of the room had been built into the floor but the other half was exposed to a wide crevasse that was slowly emitting smoke and noxious fumes into the chamber. A series of valves, handles, and cranks were exposed on the machine where it was attached to the ground, and in front of those regulators stood an elderly hunched man with a diamond tipped cane. His forehead had deep creases in it and his furrowed brow pointed angrily at the two women.
"Ah, Kim," said Senior Senior Senior, moving little more than his mouth when speaking. "I see you found your friend."
"Turn it off, Senior," snarled Shego before Kim could answer. "This is madness."
"Ms. Shego, you worked for many years under the guidance of Drakken," the elderly man said. "Yet here you are, friends with the enemy. Weren't you taught better?"
"Dr. D didn't teach me anything except how to utterly fall apart at the seams while in prison." Shego made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "I wasn't really interested in that lesson. Although apparently you picked up a few of his ticks."
"There comes a time when you realize the things you do matter less to yourself and more to the world you leave behind," explained Senior. "Your opinion of my sanity is irrelevant compared to what I'm doing."
"What are you doing?" asked Kim, exasperated. "You're not making the world a better place, or even making yourself more powerful, you're just planning on laughing while Rome burns!"
"Yes, but Nero was remembered for millennia," Senior pointed out.
"That's it?" Shego put her hand to her hip. "All this to be remembered?"
"Not at all." Senior shook his head. "This is justice."
Kim blinked. Shego took the bait. "Justice?"
"You took what was mine, Kim," said Senior. "You took something precious to me, beyond value, and corrupted it. You destroyed it from within with your vicious poison then turned it back on me to watch me suffer."
Kim's eyes were wide.
"You forced your world on mine with contempt, waving the flag of virtue and righteousness while you stole away the only thing that ever mattered to me." Senior grimaced. "That is injustice. And I have borne the sadness of my loss to visit proper punishment upon you."
Senior rose his hand and motioned around him. "This is your punishment, Kim. A problem with no answer."
Kim swallowed. "Senior... I never did anything to Junior that you--"
"Please, Kim, it is too late for any of that." Senior turned and looked up at the large metal spire running up into the distant ceiling. "This weapon has already begun to charge and it must fire or release its stored energy. If it fires, then some part of the world and its residents will be vaporized. If it does not fire, the stored energy will overload or be released and kill everyone in this facility. You no longer have enough time to escape."
"You don't either," said Kim.
Senior put on a grim smile. "Do you really think I care?" Then he frowned. "What's up with her?"
Kim looked to see Shego scowling, her eyes shut, fists at her side, and visibly shaking in rage. Also, she appeared to be glowing.
"Shego?" asked Kim.
The green woman opened her eyes and looked down at herself. "I'm not..." she trailed off, staring up at the machine. "No, I do know. I'm absorbing some of the energy this thing is giving off. It feels..."
Kim shook her head and pulled out her communicator, noticing her hand was visible when she brought it up to her face she paused and turned her arm to look at her wrist. A thin line about three inches long was colored entirely red. "Not good..." she said, sing-song. "Wade?"
"H---achhh... Kii--ssshhm," the Kimmunicator sputtered, showing static on the small screen. "Ik... kish... fir...terference fr-"
"So much for that," Kim said, pocketing the small blue device.
"Kim."
She looked up at Shego, who was looking over her shoulder at Kim. "Kimmunicator is being jammed or something," Kim explained. "You're glowing more now, do you feel alright?"
Shego nodded. "It feels... not bad," she said with a smirk. "We have to destroy the machine."
"Yes," nodded Kim. "If there's no escape, that's the only choice."
"You will destroy yourselves," commented Senior, reminding the two of his presence. "And leave your families alone."
"Sorry, S-3," said Shego, turning back. "But there's nothing agonizing about this decision. Between ourselves or the people we love." She smiled. "We're meaningless."
"Then I shall make your decision worthless," he said, picking up his cane and swinging it around on the machine. He struck a lever which twisted then broke off, flying away into the deep chasm. The machine lurched and began shaking, crackling with energy. Deep within the ground something sounded like a deep growl and the machine began to rise, ascending toward a small porthole in the ceiling in the large atrium.
Shego suddenly clutched her stomach and buckled. The aura of green light she was emitted grew even brighter, causing Kim to shield her eyes from the glare. "It's going to fire!" she said through gritted teeth.
Kim resolved herself and started to run toward the device. Each step, further sealing her fate.
Then Shego grabbed her and pulled her back.
"Shego! Let go! There's no time!"
Shego looked at her. Her eyes had turned into glowing motes of light, no longer showing her iris and pupils. It was eerie.
"Can you remember something?" she said.
"Shego!" yelled Kim.
"Can you remember?" Shego yelled back. Kim stared at her in confusion but nodded. "Remember this." She recited six numbers to her, then repeated them. "Can you remember that?"
"Yeah," said Kim.
"Good," nodded Shego. "Take care of them for me," she said glancing once over at the machine. Senior was apparently trying to dance before the machine but it looked more like hobbling. "Even him. Please."
"Him who?" said Kim. "What are you talking about?"
"You'll know when you get there." She put her hand against Kim's chest. "Try not to be a jerk about it."
"What?" boggled Kim.
Shego's glow suddenly surged brighter and Kim felt the heat before the impact that flung her nearly across the room and she slid the rest of the way until she hit the opposite wall. The wind knocked out of her, she gasped for breath as her vision darkened. Desperately trying to force air into her lunch she could feel the rumbling become more violent and the force of the air blowing against her. Her vision swirled as she tried to force air back into her lungs. She could see lights dancing in the distance but her eyes refused to focus just as the ringing in her ears refused to cease.
Suddenly, it all sharpened at once as the first breath of life-giving air reached her lungs, burning as it flooded down her throat. The ringing ceased as the darkness in Kim's vision fled and she could see the curtain of multicolored light before her. Spreading out like a flower from a single green, glowing spot. The lights danced and played along the green spot, surging and ebbing as the powerful colors charred the walls and floor around the atrium save for a single, pie shaped area starting from the green spot and extending to either side of Kim and the prone form of Senior Senior Senior lying fifty feet in front of her.
Kim opened her mouth to cry out but couldn't find her voice. Immediately afterwards the lights vanished and the glowing green form at their center flicked then died. Kim stared as the still, smoking body that was once glowing bright green, fell to its knees and then toppled over.
"SHEGO!" screamed Kim, pushing herself to her feet, ignoring the cries of her aching muscles. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but each step seemed like eternity. As her steps carried her past Senior she could see the elderly man stirring, searching for a cane that wasn't there. Kim silently cursed him but kept moving forward.
After what seemed like a millennia, Kim finally reached Shego and fell to her knees before her. Shego's skin was steaming and Kim could feel the heat against her face as she bent down to grab the woman's shoulders.
She flinched when the simple touch started to burn her palms but ignored the pain. "Shego?" she said, gently shaking the once thief.
A loud howl suddenly rung out and Kim nearly went deaf from the sharp noise. Kim looked to see the machine, once a tall spire, now largely melted and tipping towards the crevasse. The metal in the tower screamed as it wrenched and twisted before suddenly snapping free and falling into the deep abyss. The sounds of it banging against the stone walls as it fell lasted for nearly a minute before becoming too distant to make out.
"Shego?" said Kim as she started shaking the woman more roughly. "Shego? Wake up!" She let go of her shoulder and bent down to put her ear against Shego's lips, listening for breath.
There was none.
"No, dammit," cried Kim as she felt for a pulse, then, finding none, started to do CPR. "Come on, don't do this!"
Kim pushed desperately against Shego's chest in regular beats then forced air into her lungs and started again.
"I came all the way out here for you!" yelled Kim as tears fell from her eyes.
She blew air back into lungs again, then returned to the compressions.
"I'm the hero you ... you... stupid, unethical... stupid thief!"
Air again, then compressions.
"I'm the one who sacrifices herself to save people, not YOU!"
Kim checked for a pulse again. Nothing.
"No no no nononononono..."
More air, more compressions.
"You idiot! If you die what was the point of me coming out here?"
Shego's face was streaked with tears as they fell from Kim's eyes.
"You were supposed to meet my daughter," Kim sobbed, trying to continue the compressions but unable to concentrate. "You would have loved her." Kim bent down to force air into Shego's lungs again but could catch her own breath between her sobs. "She... she's actually nothing like me. You would have... loved her..."
Shaking, Kim stared at Shego's motionless form. The steam had faded and her face looked serene. She couldn't hold back anymore.
She opened her mouth and bawled.
"You jerk!" she whimpered. "I can't even pretend you might be alive this way."