"What are you doing here?" Kim and her mother both exclaimed at once.

"Jinx, you both owe me a soda!" Shego grew even paler than usual when subjected to two intense redheaded stares. "Uh ... just trying to lighten the mood, folks."

Kim belatedly realized that the green woman's arm was still around her waist. She shoved Shego's hand away.

"This isn't what it looks like!" The teen hero assured her mother. "Shego needed a sidekick and she promised to give up villainy if I helped her! ... Wait ... Why am I explaining who I'm with? Who's this Rocket guy? Does dad know about him?"

Despite the shock of the situation, Mrs Dr Possible laughed.

"You might say that." She turned to her left, addressing a helmeted figure wearing a shiny silver rocket pack. "Dear, if I could interrupt your discussion of 'Space Passage' for a moment?"

"What is it, honey?" A voice all too familiar to Kim asked as the figure turned. "Sweet Ion Drive rockets! Kimberley Anne! What are you doing here, young lady?"

"What am I doing here? What are you two doing here?" Kim's voice rose as she spoke, and Shego found herself in the unfamiliar and uncomfortable position of trying to calm a situation.

"Pumpkin, I think there's a perfectly rational explanation for why your parents are here, if you stop and think about it."

Kim paused.

"Because they've been mind controlled as part of someone's crazy plot to take over the world?"

"... okay, I guess by the standards of our lives, that is a rational explanation. But it's not the one I was thinking of."

"We're the Science Rogues, Kimmie." Her mother explained gently, reaching out to touch Kim's arm. The younger redhead batted the older woman's hand away, her green eyes blazing. Shego watched with concern. Aw man, Kimmie's gonna say something stupid.

"You two were supervillains? Where did every 'always do your best to help other people' lecture I got growing up come from? What the fu-"

Shego grabbed Kim's shoulders and kissed her. Hard.

For a moment, Kim was too surprised to react, then she pushed the green woman away, angrily, and slammed a forearm into Shego's mouth. The older woman staggered back a step, then reached up to touch her quickly swelling lip.

"I guess I deserved that. Sorry, Kimmie, but that seemed the best way to stop you from saying anything you might regret to your parents."

"You mean the parents you just kissed me in front of?"

"Oh ... oh shit."

A few minutes later, with tempers not quite so high, and a gawking circle of spectators shooed away by Shego's none-too-subtle plasma diplomacy ("Family Reunion! Private time! Move it or lose it!"), the three Possibles found a quiet corner in which to continue their reunion.

"Don't even think about sneaking off, Shego." Mrs Dr Possible's tone was stern. The green woman sighed. A quiet retreat had definitely been her plan.

"Yes ... uh, Dr Possible ..."

"Call me Sarah, Shego. It's who I am while I'm here, and you're a grown woman who obviously knows our daughter quite well."

"Yes ... uh, Sarah."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about this?" Kim interrupted, pointing at her parents' costumes. The Drs Possible both sighed, exchanging a rueful glance. Her mother answered.

"At first you were too young, Kimmie. And then you became a hero -"

"You thought I would try to take you in?" The younger Possible was incredulous.

Her father shook his head.

"Of course not, Kimmie-cub. We were just ashamed -"

Kim blanched.

"Ashamed ...of me?"

"No! Never!" Her parents answered at once. Mrs Possible immediately embraced her daughter tightly, kissing the top of the younger woman's head. Mr Possible gestured for his wife to continue. "We were ashamed at what we had been, when we were your age. We had gifts like yours, and we wasted them on silly pranks."

"But ... you guys were my inspiration to become a hero. Dad inventing things to help the world, you saving lives ..."

"I'm not saying we never learned responsibility. Just that it took us a little longer. When we were your age ... well, we were more like your brothers."

Kim gave a theatrical shudder at the thought, then grew serious.

"You never hurt anyone, right?"

"No, but we never helped them, either. We just pulled crazy stunts because we enjoyed them."

"Like brain sculptures in Fort Knox?"

"That was one of them, yes." Mr Dr Possible shot Shego a look, and the green woman blushed a deeper verdant shade. "I see someone has been giving you a history lesson."

"Only a short one." For the first time since the conversation started, Kim managed a smile. "So what made you guys quit?"

"You." Her mother replied.

"Me?"

"We stopped because we realized I was three months pregnant. At first, we just meant to take a break until you were born. But when we finally held you, we knew we had to make caring for you our first priority."

"Typical Kimmie." Shego snorted. "Not even a day old and she ends two great criminals' careers."

"Wait ..." Kim frowned. "Mom, if you didn't stop until you were three months' pregnant ... does that mean I was kinda 'there' when ..."

"That you involuntarily came along on a few of our excursions?" Her mother smiled. "I guess you did. I don't think you can be considered an accomplice, though."

"Actually, you were almost certainly conceived on a caper." Mr Dr Possible mused. In best absent-minded scientist fashion, his brain was more occupied with the facts than considering his audience. "At the top of the Eiffel Tower. Or the bottom, depending on your perspective. We'd turned it upside down, at the time."

Kim made a strangled sound as her mother covered her father's mouth.

"Dear, I think that's a little more detail than our daughter needs right now."

"It's a little more than I needed, too." Shego muttered, then squeaked as Mrs Dr Possible fixed her with a glare. The green woman slapped a hand over her mouth, mortified at the timid noise she'd made. Aw man, Kimmie's never going to let me hear the end of that.

"As for you, young lady." The older redhead gave the pale woman a hard stare. "No more kissing my daughter without her permission."

"Yes ma'am." Wait ... her permission?

"Mom, Shego and I aren't -"

"I know, honey." Mrs Possible assured her daughter. "Your reaction to the kiss made that quite clear. But you know that if you were gay, we'd still love you just as much, right?"

"Mom!" Kim flushed fiery red. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Well, you were such a tomboy as a child that there were times we wondered -" Mr Possible started, cutting off abruptly when his wife glared at him. Kim, if possible, turned even more red as she heard Shego give a throaty chuckle. The redhead hastened to speak over the green woman's mirth.

"So not the drama, dad! I like boys."

Her father frowned.

"Just as long as you don't like them too much."

"Dad!"

"Honey!"

"Hey folks, it looks like Triple-S has an announcement." Shego gladly changed the subject, pointing up to the staircase, where the European billionaire had emerged, microphone in hand.

As her parents' attention turned in Senor Senior Senior's direction, Kim sidled up next to the green woman.

"Why did you stop me, earlier?"

"You mean the kiss?" Shego quirked her lips when Kim glared at her, but then gave a reluctant nod. "Maybe I just fancied a taste. Strawberry lip gloss. A classic."

"Shego ..."

"It was pure self-interest, Kimmie. If you'd said something dumb to your parents you'd be an emotional wreck for the rest of the competition. I want to win this thing, remember? Don't worry, I still hate you."

Kim reached out and very briefly squeezed Shego's hand, then let go.

"Thanks. I hate you too."

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." The debonair billionaire began, "As some of you may know, the introductory speech for the previous two tournaments has been given by Spiff, the oldest surviving victor of a previous event. Alas, Spiff passed on a few years after the last tournament, engaged in one last daring escapade. I am an unworthy replacement for a true master of our craft, but I hope you will indulge me for a few minutes nonetheless."

"I still say he sounds like that actor off 'Space Passages'." Mrs Possible mused.

Her husband frowned.

"I just don't see it." He insisted. Their quiet exchange went unheard by anyone except Kim, who had to clamp down on an instinctive 'Shush'. I don't think mom and dad would be too impressed by that.

"Firstly, let me welcome you all, and congratulate you on your selection, for participation in the one hundred and twelfth 'King of Thieves' tournament." Senior declared, unaware of the debate his speech had reopened between the Doctors Possible. "This is the longest running competitive event in human history. The tournament was held in Plato's Greece and Caesar's Rome. It was held in Arthur's England and Napoleon's France; in the midst of a dozen wars, it has endured. Simply by being invited, you have proven yourself amongst the world's best."

The older Senor Senior produced a slip of paper from his pocket and began to read from it, his tone formal.

"It is my responsibility at this time to remind you all of some of the rules of the competition. First, this speech marks the beginning of the tournament. At any point after I finish, you may be summoned to participate in your event. No warning will be given. You must be constantly alert. Each team will have one, and only one, opportunity to impress the judges, and the decision of those judges is final. No responsibility is accepted for any injuries sustained by the competitors. The last event will commence no earlier than four hours before the farewell dinner, which is scheduled to be held forty eight hours from now. You are free to discuss your experiences in the tournament with other competitors, but not with any other persons."

Folding the paper, Senior slipped it back into his pocket and smiled slightly. When he continued, it was in a much more relaxed and conversational tone.

"Once again, my congratulations for the skill and ability you have already demonstrated in order to be invited here. As a proud father, I am particularly pleased by the invitation extended to my son, Junior –"

Shego muttered something vulgar, forcing Kim to clap a hand over her mouth to smother laughter, but the exchange went unnoticed by the billionaire.

"- as I am sure that your loved ones would all be proud of you." Senior's gaze drifted over the three Possibles as he spoke, his eyes dancing with amusement as Kim and her parents exchanged glances. He then turned his attention to Shego. "Also, I understand there have been some complaints about the quality of the coffee in your rooms. I have arranged for an alternate supply. I hope you all find it more to your liking. And now, I declare the tournament open!"

Kim tensed, half-expecting to be instantly teleported into some dangerous location or death trap, but instead the guests began drifting back into small clumps, resuming their earlier conversations.

"Huh. That was anticlimactic." But then, I've had quite enough surprises for one day.

Author's Note: Extra Special Internet Cookies for anyone who recognizes the kids' book reference in this chapter. I'd be very surprised if anyone Rumbles it (that's a clue, that is). Edit to add: It's not Calvin and Hobbes.

Kim's learned something new about her parents, but there are still a lot of questions she hasn't asked them. Will she like the answers when she does? Will she get answers when she does?