The cemetery was beautiful. Everything was trimmed grass sectioned off by flower beds, surrounded on most sides by woods that were just big enough to seperate the place from its surroundings. The result was a colourful, peaceful place to lay the recently deceased to rest.
Mourners gathered. Words were spoken. The coffin was lowered into the grave.
The ceremony ended, those assembled began speaking among themselves.
One among them caught a hint of movement at the edge of the woods, a figure they believed they recognised. Excusing themselves with a whisper, they left the congregation for the treeline to seek the figure out.
"Dude, I know you're here."
Wade edged uneasily around the tree he was hiding behind. "Hey, Ron."
"You are actually here, right? Not a hologram?"
"I'm actually here."
"You wanna come over?" Ron nodded his head in the direction of the gathering.
The agoraphobic genius took one look and shivered. "Too many people. I'll go over when they're gone."
The blond nodded sympathetically before noticing the pink roses. "Those for her?"
Wade glanced down at the flowers in his hand. "Yeah." He turned his back to the tree and plopped down on the ground. Despite the rental Ron was wearing, he did the same. They both watched the crowd for a while in silence. At one point, Mrs. Possible spotted them, got her husband's attention, and they both waved.
The boys waved back.
"Do they blame me?" Wade asked.
"I think the only one blaming you is you."
"I told her it was an untested prototype, but she had faith in me, and it got her killed. I'd rather blame me than her."
Ron frowned at the boy, though his malice was not directed toward him. "You should be blaming Shego."
Wade shrugged. "I dunno. I think the relationship between the two of them was more complicated than you think."
"Huh?"
"Using the Go glow, Shego can slice open a safe with her bare hands. She'd dial it down against people. And after fighting Kim for a while, she started using it less and less. Didn't you ever notice?"
"Uh, I was usually busy running for my life or messing with Drakken."
"Remind me to show you the security footage. My point is, Shego liked Kim. She was the only one who could stand against her for over a minute. I think she enjoyed fighting her."
Ron remained unconvinced. "She wasn't dialing it down at BNHQ."
"Yeah, well... that's why I blame myself. Everyone thought Shego's power was plasma-based, even Global Justice-"
"The Go glow is based on blood?"
The boy genius blinked at the interruption, then blinked again at the misunderstanding. "No, that kind of plasma is the liquid blood cells are in. I'm talking about high-energy ionized gas."
"Uh, Wade? School words."
"You know those globes with lightning shooting around inside, and if you put your hand on the glass, the lightning focuses on where your hand is touching?"
"Oh, yeah. Those are cool."
"Weapons grade plasma usually needs some sort of superfrequency device. The theory was that Shego's mutation provided some sort of natural equivelant. I designed the shield to be effective against plasma, but the energy Shego was throwing around was purely kinetic in nature. That's why the shield failed. It's like... the blast troopers in Space Schisms. Their armour is designed to protect against energy weapons, but if you hit them with a big rock..."
"Oh. Yeah, I get it now. So... Shego's power isn't plasma?"
"Nope. And I should have known. Everything about Team Go's powers is pretty much theoretical. Plasma was the theory for Shego's glow, but her brothers don't use their glows the same way, even though they look the same aside from the colour. It all has to be the same kind of energy if they use it to access Go Tower!" Wade sighed. "I was lazy. I accepted the theories, and I think I did that because... well, because plasma fires in the Space Passage spinoffs were green."
Ron wasn't sure what to say about that. "Well... I can see why you'd blame yourself, but I still don't agree with it."
"I know, Ron. Thanks."
The boys sat in silence a while longer until the blond noticed his parents waving. "Looks like it's time to go. Get in touch in a few days, okay? If I'm going to keep filling Kim's shoes, I'm gonna need all the help I can get."
"O-okay."
They both got to their feet and shook hands. Wade hid behind the tree again as Ron walked away, and he stayed there for some time, peeking around occasionally as the gathering dispersed.
It was getting dark when the boy genius approached the grave and added his pink roses to the impressive mound of floral tributes before the headstone. "Hi, Kim," he began shakily, "I... I wish I could hear you ask what the sitch is. I know you wouldn't blame me either, tell me I still rock and all, but I can't help feeling guilty for my part in what happened. I want you to know that I'll try even harder to keep Ron safe. You'd be proud of him, but he's not you." Tears slid down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I'll miss you."
There was a soft noise, and Wade's eyes shot open to find an arrangement of hydrangeas had joined his roses on the pile. He turned to see Shego walking silently away. "Wait!"
The villainess stopped. Turned. She was crying too.
Wade gulped, then said, "If... if you want to stay... if you want to say anything..."
"Nothing to say," Shego replied. "If she's still... somewhere, she knows how I feel."
Wade watched her go until she was out of sight.
