Kim woke slowly, sleep still clouding her thoughts. She had her arms around something warm, and her nose tickling slightly from the sweet-smelling cushion of hair in which it was buried.
"Aw man." She groaned, refusing to open her eyes. "Not again." How does she keep her hair so soft? I should ask what conditioner she uses.
"Again?" The unexpected voice was amused, though there was an edge of strain. "Should I give up on the idea of grandchildren any time soon?"
"Mom?" Kim span so fast she would have fallen off the edge of the bed if it weren't for the older Possible's steadying hand. "This isn't what it looks like!"
"Really? Because it looks to me like someone misses her Pandaroo more than she lets on."
"... okay, it's exactly what it looks like." Kim admitted with one of the all-body blushes that Shego loved to tease her about. "Wait ... what time is it? Is it something about the tournament?"
"It's two in the morning. And yes, it's about the tournament, in a way. But maybe we should have this conversation in the living room, so we don't wake Shego?"
The green woman snorted.
"Shego is already awake." She muttered, not opening her eyes. "And Shego is cranky when she doesn't get her eight hours uninterrupted, Sarah. Please tell me there's someone who needs to be hurt."
"... there may be." Anne sighed and swept her hands through her hair, looking uncertain.
"Really?" At this response, Shego actually rolled over and opened her eyes. For a second, she lay there, mouth half open, simply staring. Then she visibly shook herself. "Okay, I take it back. Clearly I'm still asleep and having one of those utterly inappropriate dreams again."
Belatedly, Kim's sleep-fuzzy mind registered her mother's outfit. Anne Possible was dressed in a pair of scarlet, form-fitting vinyl trousers, split along the side to show an inch-wide strip of exposed flesh, criss-crossed with black laces. Her black, calf-high boots were matched by a bustier of leather and velvet, stitched with scarlet thread.
Sighing, the younger Possible reached back, snatched up her pillow, and slapped it into Shego's face.
"Hey! Save the kinky stuff for later!"
Kim ignored the comment, focusing her attention on her mother. Something's wrong. Mom's always the calm one, and she's worried. Really worried.
"What's the matter, mom?"
"I just went to your father's room – they've got us in separate rooms –"
"You went to his room at two in the morni -" Kim stopped mid-word, her brain finally catching up with her mouth. Oh god, oh god, oh god. Mom was going to dad's room – don't think it! Oh god, oh god, oh god.
"Way to go, Sarah." Shego sat up, spitting out a feather from the pillow, and gave Mrs Dr Possible the thumbs up. "Keep the passion alive."
"Shego. Not now." Anne's tone was firm, and the look she sent the green woman left the former supervillain immediately chastened. "Your dad's missing, Kimmie."
"Missing?" Kim squeaked. "What? How? Why?"
"Is it the competition?" Shego swung her legs and perched on the edge of the bed next to Kim. "They've taken him and you have to get him back before some time limit expires?"
Anne nodded.
"Yes, it's the competition. They grabbed James and left a note. I have until dawn to get him back."
Kim breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, if it's the tournament it's not so bad, right?" She said. "They won't actually hurt him ..." she trailed off as she saw Anne and Shego exchange a glance.
"The traps in the volcano were real, Kim." Shego reminded the redhead. As she spoke, she unconsciously covered the younger woman's hand with her own. "The lava was real. If they've threatened your father –" she glanced at Anne, who gave a curt nod of confirmation. "- then the threats are real."
"They can't do this!" Kim protested.
"They can and they have." Shego sighed.
"I wish I'd never heard of this competition." The redhead bunched her hands into fists, almost tearing the sheets of the bed. "I'm going to find whoever did this to my dad and I'm –"
"You're not going to do anything, Kimmie." Shego grasped the redhead by the chin and turned the younger woman's face toward her. "Except help your mother find your father. You're one of the good guys, remember?"
"I want to show whoever did this –"
This time Shego forcibly covered Kim's mouth with her hand.
"I know what you want to do. Trust me, I've been down that road. Look where I ended up." The green woman waited until she saw the redhead nod, then dropped her hand and turned to Anne. "Give us two minutes to get dressed, and we'll head out."
Anne nodded and walked through to the living room, closing the door behind her. Shego immediately rose and began to drag her crumpled catsuit on over the bra and panties in which she slept.
"Us?" Kim looked at Shego in confusion. "You're coming too?"
"Of course I am." The green woman said distractedly, dropping back onto the bed to pull on her boots. "You're my par - ... my sidekick. Plus I've only had four hours' sleep and no coffee. I feel the need to punch someone. Now get your clothes on. You can't save your father in just your love-hearts pajamas."
Shego took one look at James Possible's room and shook her head.
"Man, the organizers of this little competition sure like messing with us."
Kim and Shego had been given a four room suite: it had a living area, a small kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom with a queen-sized double-bed. Mr Dr Possible had the equivalent of a small hotel room, with barely any space left after a single bed and a couch had been squeezed inside.
The room would have been cramped at the best of times. Right now, with the couch overturned and bedding strewn all over the floor, it felt little bigger than a cupboard.
"You should see my room." Anne joked tiredly, "It's even smaller than this.."
"No sign of his Rocketman gear." Shego closed the closet door. "Whoever took him must have taken that, too. Any chance there's a tracer hidden on it?"
"Two." Anne nodded. "But I'm not getting a reading from either of them. Whoever took him either found and disabled the tracers –"
"- or is in some sort of shielded area." The green woman finished the thought. "What would they need to block the signal?"
"Military grade hardening, or a full EMP field. Either way –"
"- it'd be a big sensor dead zone. Shouldn't be too hard to find."
"It should be a big sensor dead zone. I already checked. Nothing like that on the island."
"They could have taken him off the island."
"My room overlooks the mouth of the harbor, and I had the balcony doors open. I'd have seen or heard any planes or boats as they were leaving. There's been nothing like that."
Kim watched the ping-pong exchange of observations with mounting frustration. Feeling the need to do something – anything, really – she stalked over to the couch.
"Looks like Dad put up a fight." The younger redhead noted, trying to right the large piece of furniture. Finding it too awkward to move alone, she glanced at Shego. "Give me a hand with this."
"Coming, Pumpkin."
"Actually, the fighting thing is strange." Anne frowned. "James and I always tried to avoid violence. If one of us ran into trouble, we preferred to surrender and wait for the other to rescue us. I'd plan our jobs for weeks, specifically to reduce the risk of running into trouble."
"Wait ... you planned the Science Rogues' jobs?" Shego paused in the midst of lifting the couch. Anne nodded.
"I love James dearly, and he's a brilliant scientist ... without him I could never have pulled off some of the tricks we did. But his idea of a prank was putting whipped cream in the soap dispensers at town hall. Turning the Eiffel Tower upside down or beaching every Gondola in Venice? Those are mine."
"Well that explains one thing." Shego mused as she and Kim pushed the couch against the wall. "I couldn't work out why they'd take the boss hostage. It's just not done. The sidekick gets captured, they don't do the rescuing."
Kim looked back and forth between the two older women.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Shego grinned.
"Let me put it this way, Kimmie. 'Rocketman and Sarah Bellum' is like saying 'Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible', or 'Sally Kimball and Leroy Brown'."
"Or Professor Arronax and Captain Nemo?"
Shego blinked.
"Well, it's a bit of a stretch, but okay. Where did that come from?"
"From this." Kim crouched down where the couch had been lying before they moved it, and picked up a worn paperback copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
"It's one of your father's Jules Verne novels." Anne gestured at the bedside table, where several more battered books could be seen. "He brings them with him every time we go on vacation, always has them by the bed ..." she trailed off, her eyes suddenly widening. "... why is that one over there?"
Kim nodded.
"Exactly. You say Dad wouldn't normally fight, but this time he did. And this book is over here, separate from the others. Maybe he heard something about where he was being taken, and this is a clue."
Shego stared from Kim to her mother and then back again.
"You can't be serious? You two get all that from an upturned sofa and a mass market paperback?"
"You don't know my James. He wouldn't leave one of his Verne books on the floor."
"He was being kidnapped." The green woman pointed out. "He may not have been given a choice. Still ... would sea water block your tracer signals?"
"If there was a lot of it." Anne nodded.
"Submarine?" Kim suggested. Her mother shook her head.
"No. At least, not a full-sized one. The harbor here isn't deep enough. They'd have to surface to get in and out through the mouth. I'd have seen or heard them. A mini-sub could do it, though ..."
Shego considered the idea.
"Mini-subs have limited range. And they're damn uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to hold a hostage on one for any length of time." She caught the look Kim was giving her. "... not that I have plans to hold any hostages. My point is: if they took him in a mini-sub, they've got an underwater base."
Anne produced a flat black object, small enough to fit in her hand.
"An underwater base will need generators, atmospheric controls ... lots of electronics. Give me two minutes to recalibrate this sensor, and we'll know where we need to go."
The guard toggled his radio.
"Central, this is Niner-Three. All clear at the harbor. Over."
"Niner-Three, this is Central. All clear confirmed." The radio crackled back. "Take a sweep up to the beach then head back. Over."
"Beach then back confirmed, Central." The guard dropped into a more personal tone. "Were you at the beach this morning, Eddie? That volleyball match ..."
"I know what you mean, man. Damn the old geezer for putting an end to it. That green babe ... wow, I'd love to find out if she was that color all over, know what I'm saying?"
"Sure do, Eddie." The guard chuckled. "Put on a fresh pot. I'll be back in twenty. Over and out." He clicked off the radio and walked away. Seconds later, three figures slipped out of the shadows and along the quay.
"Remind me to find out which guard is Eddie." Shego groused as they headed for the boats. "I'd like to offer him a close inspection of the color of my fist."
"There!" Anne whispered, pointing at a small shed at the end of the pier. "SCUBA supplies. If you give me a few minutes, I should be able to pick the lock."
"Hell with that." The green woman smirked. "You and Kimmie get a boat ready, Sarah. I'll get us the gear we need from the shed." Green plasma flared in the darkness, and the shed's door blew off its hinges. Immediately, spotlights flared and a klaxon began to wail.
Kim rolled her eyes.
"Shego's not good at subtle!" she yelled to her mother, struggling to be heard over the noise. "Especially when she hasn't had her coffee! I hope you can hotwire a boat!"
"No problem!" Anne shouted back, pointing at the nearest vessel. "Let's take that one."
"No!" Kim pointed to the next one along. "Let's take that one."
"Any particular reason?" Anne asked as they ran toward Kim's choice.
"It just looks fast!"
Less than ninety seconds later, Shego hefted three sets of wetsuits, masks and air tanks over the gunwale, then threw herself on board as well.
"Time to leave!" She shouted, sounding almost cheerful. "I think the neighbors called the cops about all the noise from this party!"
Anne popped up from beneath the captain's station, which was on a platform at the top of the vessel.
"Honey!" she called to Kim, "Have you finished casting off?"
"Yes mom!" The younger redhead called from the back of the boat.
"Then hold onto something!"
Anne slammed the large vessel into motion, swinging the wheel sharply as she did so. The boat leapt out of its mooring, side-swiping the smaller vessel in front of it, then powered out across the water. Shego clambered up a ladder to stand beside Anne.
"How far out were the electrical signals you found?" She asked as they finally outran the wail of the klaxons.
"About three miles." Anne replied, adjusting her course as she checked the display on the small black sensor. "We'll be there in ten minutes."
"Right. Kim and I will get our suits on first, then I'll take over here while you get yours." The green woman turned away and moved to the edge of the platform, ready to climb down, then blushed deeply as she saw Kim. The young redhead was already in the middle of changing. She had one of the wetsuits pulled up to her waist, and pulled off her shirt just as green woman caught sight of her.
The younger Possible was facing back toward the shore, so Shego saw nothing more salacious than a smooth expanse of pale back, muscles playing beneath the creamy skin, but that glance was enough to confirm that the redhead wasn't wearing a bra.
Kim turned, zipping up the suit as she did so, and Shego felt an odd mixture of relief and disappointment that she saw nothing more than a glimpse of cleavage. Biting back a curse, the green woman ground the heel of her hand into her forehead. You always do this. Fall for a girl you can't have. Stop being an idiot!
Turning her face away, Shego made a deliberately noisy descent, then began to change.
"Trust you to find a green wetsuit." Kim chuckled, pulling on her air tank and readying her mask.
"I just grabbed what was there, Kimmie." Shego was sure her smirk looked forced, but Kim didn't seem to notice. "Otherwise I'd have got you something in pink."
"No need." Kim grinned. "I think the black works on me."
It definitely did, and Shego quickly turned her attention to getting changed.
Anne was back at the helm as the boat roared the last half-mile toward its destination.
"The base is about two hundred feet down. That's very deep for plain SCUBA diving." She cautioned. "Be careful."
"We will, mom."
"What's the plan, Sarah?"
"You two make as much noise and distraction as you can. I'll find James. We'll meet back wherever they dock their mini-subs, and escape in one of those. That'll help control any decompression issues." Anne shook her head. "I hate planning on the fly like this. And I hate asking you both to risk your lives –"
"So not the drama." Kim assured her mother.
"Like I'm going to miss the opportunity to work with Sarah Bellum." Shego snorted.
Anne opened her mouth to say something more, but was interrupted by a sudden beeping from her handheld sensor.
"What is it, mom?"
"A small energy source just left the base and is headed our way. Fast."
"Torpedo?" Shego guessed.
"Probably. Time to abandon ship."
All three women leapt cleanly from the upper platform, their bodies sliding cleanly beneath the waves.
For about fifteen seconds, the boat continued to roar along ... and then it disintegrated in a sudden fireball, showering debris over an area the size of a football field. Somehow, despite the devastation, the ship's name board survived intact, splashing down face-up in the salty water.
For a second, it floated, then the inevitable effects of mass took their hold and the last remnants of the Senior III slid beneath the waves.
Author's Note: 20,000 Leagues is not the kids' book reference in this part (thought I'd mention that in case anyone was offended by the idea that Verne wrote children's stories).
Shego continues to notice Kim, despite her best efforts not to. But I guess the burning question is: what dangers will our three gorgeous ladies encounter beneath the waves?