AN: Continues from the end of the last chapter.
Chapter 8
"As the blue shrine was defended by stone, the red shrine is defended by lava," Monkey Fist read from the ancient scroll, "oooo sounds dangerous!"
Shen and Kim were standing in front of him, having to listen to the English monkey man as they were still tied together. The monkey ninjas were surrounding them excluding the side that faced the red cave entrance. Monkey Fist suddenly looked slightly confused, "where's Stoppable and who are you?"
"Ron is busy," Kim replied, looking a bit frustrated, "and this is Shen."
He seemed to look at Shen for a while, noticing the restrained anger in his eyes and the impatient tapping of his foot, "Shen? Hmm, have we met?"
Shen only pointedly sighed and rolled his eyes, "can we just get on with it?!"
"Strange; you remind me of someone," Monkey Fist continued as he squinted at the teen. Having taken all that he could from the annoying monkey-human hybrid, Shen's hands started to glow a very slight green. Kim couldn't actually see it as it was only a little and her back was to him, but she could feel a wave of warmth washing over her own hands.
Monkey Fist looked shocked as he saw it, but then smiled evilly, "Well, in we go!" He said as he kicked his captives forward towards the cave, "after you of course."
"Always the gentleman." Kim replied from her position on the floor, having fallen over from the kick. Keeping balance when tied to someone was surprisingly difficult.
"You just worry about springing the traps while I retrieve the red key and with it finally reveal the true nature of the secret weapon!" Monkey Fist explained dramatically.
"You mean you don't even know what it does?!" Shen shouted at him incredulously.
"Well...no...but it's highly protected so it must be worth having!" Monkey Fist defended himself.
"Jeez, he sounds like Drakken," Shen muttered under his breath, "Well are we going in or not, Princess?"
Kim's answer was to get up and shuffle into the cave with Shen tied to her back, "since we're stuck in here we might as well try to get the red key."
"Isn't that why we're here in the first place?!"
"Technically," Kim replied through gritted teeth, why does he have to be so angry all the time?, "Anyway we need to be smarter than both the shrine and monkey boy."
They entered the room at the end of the short tunnel and found a large blank space immediately in front with a tower of red stone beyond, the red key clearly at the top. There was a large stone monkey head with it's mouth open at the base.
"One, two, three," they counted in unison and jumped forward. As soon as they landed the ground around them broke apart leaving small floating islands of rock, surrounded by lava, "Well, there's the lava."
"Hmm...quite the set back," Shen replied, not really worried about the lava.
"Urgh, this is so annoying."
- - -
"I'm glad they went in first," Monkey Fist commented as he watched Kim and Shen from the cave entrance.
"You won't be!" a confidant voice called from behind him, "not after you faced the wrath of Ron Stoppable and Rufus!"
The villain raised his bushy, black eyebrow and merely pointed at the blonde standing aggressively in front of him, "Get him! Get the rat! Throw them into the volcano!"
Ron wasn't worried about being surrounded by about 16 monkeys and so he got into his monkey kung fu stance and kicked and punched away the advancing ninjas easily. Within only a couple of minutes they were all down for the count.
"Oh well played, you've dispatched the lackeys, but I think you'll find their master more of a challenge," Monkey Fist leaped forward and engaged Ron in combat. He mostly punched and Ron either dodged or blocked and Monkey Fist rambled on about what would happen once he got the secret weapon. This meant he wasn't totally concentrating so his final punch didn't land on Ron, but was dodged and smashed straight into the rock wall. A small landslide occurred as the displaced rock fell on top of the Englishman and knocked him out.
"Well, that was lucky!" Ron commented to himself as he looked at the pile of rock. However, it seemed the villain hadn't been defeated as he burst out of the rubble and threw a stone monkey head at the blonde hero. It hit him right on the head and actually got stuck. Thankfully, during the rant that followed as the monkey man advanced, a nearby volcano was erupting and rock that spew forth buried him once again. Ron finally got the head off of him and retrieved the yellow and blue keys along with the ancient scroll that described where each key was.
It was then that Shen and Kim shuffled out of the cave and up to Ron. "Wow, Ron. Nice work."
"Yeah well, I heard you guys were in some trouble," Ron shrugged as him and Rufus helped untie the ropes.
"Thanks Ron," Kim said as she stepped forward and gave the blonde a grateful hug. Shen just looked away glaring at some random rock.
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"Hey Shen," Bonnie called as she swayed up to where he was standing in front of his locker, Kim, Ron and Monique were nearby, "going to the dance?"
"Not with you," he replied casually as he carried on sorting his books in his locker.
Bonnie looked completely shocked and stuttered, "Bu-but...you-"
"Piss off Bonnie!" Shen shouted right in her face. Consequently, she quickly ran off, leaving Shen standing there passively while everyone stared. He just walked off without a word and the other three members of the group just watched him in surprise.
"What was that about?" Ron asked.
"No idea...but Shen is so sexy when he's angry."
"Monique!"
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They were with Shen for about half the day, in which he seemed to be brightening up. Although, that quickly changed whenever Josh appeared on the scene and Kim couldn't help wondering if it was all for her, I guess he didn't actually like Bonnie and it can't be coincidence that he got rid of her and is now being nicer to me again.
However, he suddenly disappeared and none of them knew where he had gone. Kim was quickly distracted though by a new mission.
"What's the sitch, Wade?"
"A green woman has been spotted breaking into the British History Museum."
Kim immediately brightened up, "Shego?"
"Must be. Transportation is waiting outside."
She thanked Wade and quickly grabbed some things and ran out of school to see who would be taking her to the green woman she'd clearly been missing.
"You know, sometimes I feel like Kim gets a bit attached to the whole crime fighting," Ron said to Monique but she merely tutted, shook her head and walked away, "What?!"
It's not the crime fighting she's attached to Ron.
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"Shego?" Kim called quietly, she knew the thief was in this particular room of the museum.
"Hey Princess," Kim quickly swivelled round to face the raven haired woman whilst grinning happily, but quickly realised and changed it into a smirk, "Miss me?"
"Oh, of course," Kim replied sarcastically as Shego smirked back at her, "So where have you been?"
"Aww, didn't know you cared," Shego replied from her relaxed position against a shadowed wall. They could still see each other clearly, but little did Kim know that Shego was using a type of hologram.
"I don't. Just curious," They continued their usual banter, but no fighting was started. Kim was starting to get on edge; she knew something must be wrong if Shego didn't want to fight.
"Well this has been great, toodles!" Shego waved and then quickly ran off. When Kim pursued her round a corner she had vanished without a trace.
"What the-? She didn't even steal anything!"
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She got back in time for her last two lessons of the school day. Shen was present in both of them so Kim was doubting her previous thoughts that he was really Shego, yet again. She didn't discount that he could be a relative though.
After school when Kim was just about to walk out the main doors with Ron and Monique to go to Bueno Nacho, Shen lightly took her arm, "Can I come with?"
"I thought you already said you couldn't make it?" Ron asked while Kim was coming round from her shock of Shen's sudden move.
"Yeah well, I changed my mind."
"Of course you can come," Kim told him as she changed her and Shen's arms around so she was holding his. They smiled at each other sweetly as they walked out of the school.
The couple dropped behind the other two, Ron was oblivious as to why but Monique kept him next to her to give them some privacy.
"So...erm," Shen started awkwardly.
"Yeah, so...what was with you and Bonnie?"
"Ah...well I didn't actually like her, you know, erm..."
"It's okay. I understand."
Shen sighed, not sure if she really did understand, but they carried on walking down the street and could see their destination by now, "What about you and Josh? Do you actually like him?"
"He's a nice guy, but I don't think I like him in that way really."
"Did he ask you to the dance?"
"Yeah," Kim replied but she paused while she noticed Shen's disappointed reaction, "I declined."
"Really? I mean...so you're free to ask to the dance?" He continued 'casually'.
"I didn't say that I didn't have someone else in mind," Kim replied coyly.
"Oh..." Shen sounded incredibly disappointed.
Kim just laughed, which made Shen more than a bit angry, "That person being you."
They had now reached Bueno Nacho and went in to meet Ron and Monique again. Kim was laughing because this was the first time she had seen Shen embarrassed at all; she was starting to see why Shego teased her. That thought reminded her of her meeting with the thief as she sat down next to Monique, with Shen across from her.
"You know that mission I went on earlier?" she asked.
"The one that was probably Shego?" Ron answered.
"Yeah...well it was Shego." The others looked a bit bewildered; what was so special about that? "She didn't even steal anything, she just talked."
"Are you sure it was Shego?" Ron was sceptical that Shego would only talk; maybe it was a distraction. He added that thought.
"I'm sure it was her, but it could've been a distraction. Nothings happened since though. I can't believe she didn't fight me!"
"Why would you want her to?" Shen asked.
"Well...it would be less suspicious and I haven't had a good fight in ages. Dementor's henchmen are the best and I can beat them pretty easily."
"So how was she?" Monique asked.
"Erm, she seemed fine. Her usual sarcastic self," Kim answered with a small smile that didn't go unnoticed, "She wouldn't tell me where she's been though, not that I really blame her, but I'm still curious."
"Maybe it was all a trick to get inside your head," Ron suggested as he still wasn't going to accept that Shego didn't fight or steal anything without having something else in mind.
"Why do you have to be so pessimistic? Shego could've just wanted to chat...even though it does sound a bit unlikely...and she could've gone about it a different way."
"It is Shego, she probably thought that was the best way to chat to you," Monique pointed out.
They carried on coming up with possibilities and theories about why Shego had only spoken to Kim and where she and Drakken had been all this time, but Shen mostly stayed out of it and smiled at the things they came up with. It was amusing seeing how concerned Kim was and it wasn't about 'they must be up to something' but more to do with Shego's general welfare.
It didn't take long for everyone to finish what they'd ordered and start walking home. It was much like it was on the way there except Kim and Shen walked ahead of the other two, who seemed to be arguing about the name Club Banana attracting monkeys.
"I wonder who started up that discussion," Shen commented sarcastically.
"Yes, I wonder," Kim laughed and then took the rather bold move of taking Shen's hand. Shen was surprised, but smiled at Kim and he held her hand tighter.
"So, I've been meaning to ask you..." he started, "...would you go to the dance with me?"
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Back at Dr Drakken's 'secret' lair, the mad scientist was working away on the newest invention that would help him conquer the world. What was it this time? Yeah, you guessed it; a death ray. It must have been more than twice his height with an area for the controls and a seat on the top. He was tinkering with the wiring in the previously mentioned control panel when one of his lanky henchmen ran into the room, "Dr Drakken, an incoming video call from an unknown source."
"What did I say about disturbing me?! You know I have to get this done quickly if I want to ruin Christmas!"
The red henchman cowered (yes, someone did cower from Drakken) "Apparently it's urgent."
Drakken grumbled as he tried to gracefully climb down the death ray; he ended up landing on his behind though. Quickly getting up, he walked through a couple rooms of the lair and came to one fairly small area where a large screen was mounted on the wall. Pressing a button on the console below it, an image of the caller appeared on the screen.
"Señor Senior Senior? What do you want? Shego isn't here right now," Drakken greeting the old man gruffly.
"Good day Dr Drakken. I'm calling to talk to you but Shego's absence is noted," Senior replied rather mysteriously, "Myself, not to mention the villain community, are curious as to why you have been so inactive recently-"
"That's none of your business!" Drakken interrupted like a child.
"Very well, that is perfectly understandable," the old man said, ignoring Drakken's tone, "but there is also news of a new friend of Kim Possible. My people have been watching them quite closely and have found out some rather interesting things. I'm not one for scheming as such or, shall we say, delivering ultimatums to colleagues, but I may just use this, Shen, to my advantage."