Author's Notes: Sorta meant to mention in the last chapter I know that I'm having Ron act out of character but having a bumbling buffoon around really doesn't help much in a dark fic. I hope I'm keeping everyone guessing as to what's really going on and that you're all still enjoying the story, remember I love reviews. Now onto my usual thanks to my beta reader, Rebelrsr. You really helped this chapter a lot, without you it would have read like crap.
Shego had just made it clear of the mountain lair as it gave its final breath and collapsed. Covered in dust and blood, the green thief staggered to the wall outside the tunnel leading from the heart of the lair where she had last seen Kim. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes as Shego thought about the hero. "Even as she was dying she was being a damn goody-goody!" the distraught thief yelled.
As the tears in her eyes spilled out, and Shego slid down the wall and cried. 'Why am I even crying over this!' Shego thought. 'She was my enemy; she was going to die someday anyway.'
'Because she was your only equal,' a voice in the back of her mind said.
'What does that have to do with anything?' Shego asked.
Instead of an answer from her subconscious, Shego heard the faint sound of rotor blades. Even with the cover of night, Shego knew she would be easily spotted if she kept sitting against the wall. She attempted to stand. It was harder than the woman expected because of the pain shooting up from the wound in her leg. After a few grunts and whispered curses, Shego stood and look around. Seeing nothing that would be overly useful, she thought of the best way to leave the lair. With the helicopter in the air, the pale woman thought using Draken's hoverpads wouldn't be the best idea so she racked her mind for other transportation. Shego remembered she had her motorcycle in the lair's garage. The only problem was that the entrance to the garage was some distance away in the forest on the slope leading to the lair.
Seeing no other options, Shego started limping toward the garage. After taking a few more steps, the thief noticed she was leaving a trail of blood behind. Shaking her head to try and clear it, Shego knew she had to close the wounds. Sitting down again, she lit up her left hand and let it drift over to the wound in her leg. Thanking whatever luck she had left that the bullet passed through and didn't hit a bone, she grazed her fingers over the openings to cauterize them shut. Gritting her teeth through the pain, the green woman nearly passed out and her hand winked out. With her leg taken care of, Shego looked at her right arm. The bullet had lodged itself in her upper forearm, just below the elbow. Blood still flowed from it freely, nearly coating her black glove in the dark red liquid. The thief fervently wished for something to bite on, but having nothing she decided it would be best just to get it over with. Letting her plasma engulf her left hand again, Shego clenched her eyes shut as she shoved her fingers into the wound and nabbed the bullet. With the piece of metal in hand, the pale woman screamed as she yanked it out, sealing the wound shut as she did so. Panting from the exertion, the thief looked around to make sure there weren't any Global Justice soldiers. Certain no one was around, Shego stood back up, careful to not put too much weight on her left leg, and made her way to the forest hiding the garage.
After making into the woods, the green thief thought she heard rustling noises. Immediately stopping, Shego listened. When it sounded like the noise was getting closer, she dove behind a rather large tree. A moment later the sound became clear enough for Shego to tell it was boots tromping through the underbrush of the forest. Peeking around the trunk, she spotted more the soldiers she had fought earlier in the lair. "Negative, there's no sign of the target," one of the soldiers said into a hidden mouthpiece. Having a bit more time to actually look at the men, Shego noticed their uniforms. They were the same blue color most GJ units wore, yet they had black gloves. The next difference was the helmets they wore. The helmet covered their entire head save for their eyes, which had a visor that made it impossible to tell where they were looking. Each of them had the same sword sheathed on their backs with their submachine guns out and ready to use. There were no distinguishable markings on any of them to denote rank or even belonging to any military at all. If the uniforms didn't have the same basic appearance as normal GJ units, Shego never would have guessed they belonged to the world wide agency. After a few more short transmissions the squad left.
The thief waited until the sound of the men had vanished before moving. Shego quietly slipped around the tree and continued on her way to the garage. She continued to walk stealthily through the forest until she caught sight of the facility. Before going into the clearing around the building, the thief scouted around looking for any enemies. Spotting two guards at the side door, Shego took note of them and continued making her way around the garage. Finding no one else, the pale-green woman sat down into a crouch to think about how to deal with the guards.
Rushing straight at them wouldn't be the best approach due to the wound in her thigh, so that meant either trying to take them out long range or sneaking up on them. Using her plasma to hit the guards from a distance would cause a large flash of distinct green light, something she'd rather avoid. She was hoping to leave the mountain without having a single Global Justice soldier spot her or even know she had passed by though. Knowing there was no way to avoid at least some small confrontation with GJ on the mountain left Shego with trying to minimize her interaction with them and staying as quiet as she could. With her decision made, the thief moved to the corner nearest to the guards, placing her back against the wall. She leaned around it to check the positions of the soldiers. The closer of the two had his back towards her while the other soldier was facing off into the woods. Both were highly attentive to their surroundings, unlike most guards. Shego had half expected to catch part of some mundane conversation between the two of them, yet she knew to expect more. These were hardened men, not the usual henchmen villains like Draken employed.
Choosing to act rather than wait, the pale woman struck. Flying around the corner, the martial artist slammed into the soldiers. Catching the closer one in the back of his head with a softly glowing fist sent him tumbling towards his companion. Reacting quickly, the second soldier dodged out of the way and raised his gun, only to have a foot catch him in the face. As the soldier stumbled backward, Shego pushed her advantage and used her tremendous strength to punch the man's neck, crushing his windpipe. The last blow caused the soldier to fall on his back, dropping his weapon and clutch at his destroyed wind passage trying in vain to suck in air. Shego gracefully stepped over to the first guard she took down as she listened to the other drum his feet on the ground. Kneeling down to the unconscious guard she viciously slit his throat with her claws. 'Every GJ bastard I come across is dieing for taking Princess from me!' The thief thought with a seething rage.
Shego stood up in shock. Where had that thought come from? And since when did she kill out of revenge?
'Since you lost someone worth avenging,' the voice from earlier said. In the career the pale villainess had chosen to follow, she was no stranger to killing. It wasn't something she delighted in and she tried her best to avoid it, but something within her demanded that she end every GJ dog's life.
'Did I really care that much about Kimmie that I'd kill those responsible for her death?' Shego questioned herself.
Her only answer was the final boot strike of the suffocating soldier. Deciding to follow her current line of thought later, the thief opened the door and dragged the first solder inside. Looking around in the near pitch black, she found the room looked like any other garage. At the far end of the room, to her left, was the main garage door. Directly across from her was the wall containing the workbench. Before looking around any further, Shego went back outside and grabbed the other soldier and lugged him inside and closed the door. Letting her eyes scan the room, the green woman spotted four lockers in the corner to her right behind the door. They were seven feet tall and about a foot wide… just large enough to fit a full grown man in. With a cruel smirk, Shego dragged the two bodies over to the set of lockers. Popping them open, the thief first looked through them before stuffing the bodies in. She didn't find anything of great importance other than a full length, deep-forest green leather duster. After shrugging it on, Shego remembered she had actually placed it there, when she had been tinkering around in the garage. Looking into the middle of the room, the thief hoped to spot one of her more prized possessions, a midnight black Kawasaki prototype Concours 14. While she had swiped the beautiful ride from the original makers, she had put her own upgrades and work into it, making it as much her own as those that had made its design. It was a perfect blend of her own personality: powerful, sleek, and demanding of everyone's attention.
Going over to the work bench, Shego opened one of the drawers and moved a few things around inside to gain access to a keypad. After entering the correct sequence of numbers, the bottom lifted up to reveal a secret compartment that held one object, the ignition key. Snatching it and grabbing a bike helmet off the bench, the pale-green thief slid the helmet on and mounted the bike. Starting the engine, she opened the garage door and peeled out into the night-covered forest heading for a city she hadn't been expecting to go to again for some time- Upperton.
Thinking about the city lead her to remember the last time she had been there. Ironically, it involved the redhead that was currently plaguing her mind, and the two had even been on the same side. They had been fighting against Avarious, one of the many villains Shego had fought when she was a hero, because her idiotic brothers had failed to defeat him on their own. Fighting alongside the petite girl had been exhilarating; in fact, it had almost been more fun to fight with her than against her. Maybe there really was more than just professional respect for Kim than what Shego had originally thought. If her memories were anything to go by than she really did enjoy being around the girl. But what more really entailed, though, the thief had no idea.