Kim Possible and all related characters are the property of Disney. Buckaroo Banzai and all related characters are the property of Earl Mac Rauch and W.D. Richter.
----
It had been just over two years since Sheila Gordon-Lipsky had worn the familiar green and black uniform that had, at one time, been her trademark. In fact, the last time she wore it was the day before she left for Las Vegas to marry the former Dr. Drakken. She'd had every intention of doing some sort of costumed adventuring afterward, but the business she started, as well as her pregnancy, quickly put an end to that. But here I am now, she thought. Teaming up with two people I used to try to beat the snot out of on a regular basis, as well as someone who could have been a real pain in the butt if he hadn't retired before I got started in the bad guy biz. And I'm going up against alien invaders for the second time in as many years. I might want to think about getting a CAT scan if I survive this. I think that little trip into the broadcast tower Kimmie sent me on a few years ago may have scrambled by brains.
"Everything all right, Shego?" an older man asked her. Even now, nearing his sixties, Buckaroo Banzai was an imposing figure. He was still strong, fast and confident; every bit as much the trained samurai he had been in his youth.
"Not really, Doc," Shego replied. "I'm doing this again. Willingly. I think I might need to have my head examined later on."
"That makes all of us," Ron Stoppable said in a shaky voice. He stood in the middle of the Space Center's hangar, gazing at the Keppler III. Unlike last time, Ron and Shego wouldn't be taking any spaceships out for a joyride. No, this time the fight would start on terra firma when the walkers came in for a landing. Ron, wearing a sleeker black and red variant of the space suit and jet pack he had worn during the first Lorwardian attack, was again fighting with his anxieties.
Shego looked at the young man with equal parts surprise and sympathy. Ron was a case study in contradictions. He was clumsy, but a master of monkey kung fu. He came off as slow or dimwitted at times, but was a closet genius, able to cobble together a rudimentary doomsday machine from old kitchen appliances, or a build a sophisticated Mega Weather Generator while a fight was raging in the same room. Of course, that last example was when he had absorbed Drakken's evil, such as it was. But most of all, here was this easily startled young man who could turn into the world's fiercest warrior in the blink of an eye if his loved ones were in danger. Here and now, he looked like he was going to pass out or throw up. But somehow Shego knew he would do neither. He would step up as he had done countless times before.
In a move that would have been totally out of character for her just two years ago, Shego approached Ron and took him in an almost sisterly embrace. "Calm down, Monkey Boy. You're gonna do fine."
Rufus scampered out of the specially made pocket that had been made for him and onto Ron's shoulder. "Shego right," he squeaked.
"Tell that to the legions of butterflies in my stomach," Ron muttered.
"Come on, Stoppable!" Shego exclaimed. "You got nothing to be afraid of. If push comes to shove, you can send this next bunch on the same flight you sent the last two on."
"Yeah," Ron weakly replied. "That's what I'm afraid of." Even though he had recently somewhat come to terms with his actions of two years ago, he wasn't too keen on having a repeat performance. Something both Shego and Buckaroo could understand.
"You'll be fine, Ron," Buckaroo, who was wearing a similar suit to Ron's said. "Now come on. We need to meet up with Kim, James and Drew in the lab and see if those new toys are ready for a test run."
----
"I must say, Drew, I think you've really done it this time," Dr. James Possible said. Drew Lipsky had once hated James Possible with a passion, but since Drew became a father, the two had found a common ground. Drew's own father had long since passed away when Joey was born, and the only person he could ask advice from was his one time rival. Now they stood in the main workshop of the Space Center, working together for a common goal; saving the world from an alien attack. Again.
"Reproducing the super high pollinator was the easy part," the blue hued former would be dictator replied in a smug voice. A long vine that was sprouting from the back of his neck had extended to a length of about eight feet, and was screwing the last pressure nozzle into place. "Turns out the formula can be synthesized from my own blood. The delivery system, on the other hand, was going to be a little harder. Fortunately your sons enlightened me to something called the Ultra Drencher 500-XPS."
"Ah yes, the Ultra Drencher," James mused. "The boys upgraded that thing to the point that it could blast the shingles off of a house at fifty feet."
Jim and Tim exchanged high fives and a hearty "Hoosha!"
"Not bad, Tweebs," Kim Stoppable said with no small amount of pride. She too was wearing a suit like Ron and Buckaroo, only hers was black with purple trim. "Who knew your compulsive need to turn ordinary stuff into intruments of mayhem and chaos would come in so handy?"
"Nice work," Buckaroo Banzai added. "How many of these do we have ready?"
"Only four," Drew replied. "It was the best we could do on such short notice." Drew admired his handiwork; four ten foot long pressure nozzles with attached fluid tanks to store the pollinator formula. "Still, not bad for working under the gun."
"We sent the design specs for the pressure nozzles, as well as Drew's formula, off to your people at the Banzai Institute," James said. "That Reno Nevada fellow said they were going to start fabricating the tanks and nozzles, and replicating the super high pollinator. He even sent us designs for an upload attachment based on Wade's adapters that we can mount beside the pollinator tanks, and a radio receiver so we can remote control these things."
"Good old Reno," Buckaroo mused.
Shego came up behind her husband and embraced him. "Who knows, Drew, maybe you'll get another award for this."
"It couldn't destroy my villain cred any more than it already is," Drew grumbled.
"Uh, Drew," Ron said, "you never had any villain cred."
"Nope, no cred," Rufus agreed.
"No one asked you or your hairless rodent, Buffoon."
"Anyway," Kim said, trying to regain control of the situation, "what's next? Are the rest of the Hong Kong Cavaliers going to be charging in with plant guns at the ready?"
"Not this time," Buckaroo replied. "I'm having them hold the fort back home, and distribute Mr. Lipsky's invention to the Blue Blazer Irregulars. If we have everything ready in time, that is."
"What about the military and Global Justice?" Tim asked.
"The military are already on full alert, and know what we've got planned," Buckaroo said. "We'll give them every assistance they need. GJ is another story." That remark elicited curious looks from Team Possible. "Let's just say that, ever since my last official mission, I haven't gotten along so well with the Global Justice leadership. Add in their complete failure to act during Diablo Night and the first invasion, and you can see why I don't put a lot of faith in that organization."
"They're not that bad," Kim said weakly, having been a GJ cadet agent herself once. "I mean, Dr. Director's done pretty well by us."
"Sometimes they're worse," Buckaroo growled. "And Betty Director, competent though she is, sometimes lets herself get blinded by her own petty squabbles. But we're getting off topic." He took out a laser pointer and approached a map of the Tri-City. "According to Wade's last update, the walkers will be here within ten minutes. They're current course and speed will put them right here," he shined the pointer at a section of downtown. "That area has already been evacuated. The plan is to separate four walkers from the main group. We reprogram them, mount these cannons on them, and have Wade send them against the others. They'll immobilize the other walkers with the vines produced by Mr. Lipsky's high pollinator formula, which will give us the chance we need to upload the new operating system. The goal is to get as many of these things on our side as we can."
"Uh, just how are we supposed to move those oversized water pistols?" Ron asked. "I mean, I'm pretty sure those things weigh just a few tons more than I can lift without heavy machinery."
"We'll have to bring the walkers here," Buckaroo said. "Not the best plan, I know, but it's all we have. There's just no way to do the install in the field."
"Besides," Wade said from the main display monitor in the workshop, "I'll need to whip up a software patch for the control program. The plant guns, receivers and upload devices won't work without it."
"If it's all we have, then we go with it," Kim said. "Time to get down to business."
----
Every Lorwardian had their preferred own method of travel while traversing the battlefield. Warhok had his winged flight harness, Warmonga had her rocket board, and Warpaath had his sky cycle. Sporting the same sensor camoulage as his ship, it was both swift and stealthy. Behind him sat John Ya-ya; shackled to the back of the cycle. A jolt to a specific nerve cluster from the punishment modules had rendered the Red Lectroid unconscious, and thus, a much better traveling companion. Warpaath had considered leaving his pet on the ship, but didn't trust Ya-ya as far as he could throw his own starship with one hand.
Warpaath was no fool. If John Ya-ya was serious about selling out his entire race just to stay alive, then he was not exactly the most trustworthy of allies. The same was true if this was, as Warpaath suspected, just a ruse. He was certain that Ya-ya was planning on betraying him once the overthruster was in his hands. He will not get that chance. Warpaath would do away with the reptile first. The very fact that Ya-ya had ruined hours of surveillance and planning had given Warpaath a very good reason to sever all ties with the Red Lectroid, not to mention his head.
It wasn't a total loss, however. Warpaath's adaptabillity in combat was one of his greatest strengths. The premature launch of his invasion force had angered him greatly, but it also provided him with an opportunity. While his foes were holding off the walkers, he would go to this Tech Museum and liberate the overthruster. Once that was done, he would start the next phase of his plan. First I decimate Earth, then I get my revnege on Lorwardia. It will be so sweet to thrust those who humiliated me into the 8th Dimension while wearing the Great Blue's pelt as a cloak. I doubt even Emperor Warlorrd himself would dare to stand against me.
----
The first of the walkers touched down fifteen feet in front of Earth's defenders. Kim and Ron Stoppable, along with Buckaroo Banzai, were all equipped with specialized jet pack suits in order to get to the interface port at the very top of the machines. Although offered a jet suit of her own, Shego opted instead to fight on the ground. "Gotta make sure I'm back in fighting trim after having my baby," she explained. "Besides, I haven't cut loose in a long time. I'm gonna enjoy this."
Ron tapped into only a fraction of the Mystical Monkey Power. His eyes turned blue as he felt his strength and agility increase. Normally he could "read" his opponents and anticipate their actions, but that didn't work with mindless machines. Ron would have to rely on his mad running away skills to keep one step ahead of the sky scraper sized behemoths.
"Now!" Buckaroo Banzai shouted. He, Kim and Ron took to the skies and selected their targets; the first three that landed. Shego ran towards the fourth.
Shego let out a feral yell as she charged up her right hand and took a swipe at one of the legs. She intentionally missed; more interested in getting its attention. "Hey tall, red and gangly! Over here!" She tossed a few plasma blasts at it, just to make sure it had seen her. "Get it to follow you," she said in an annoyed voice once it had given chase. "Brilliant idea! And I thought Drew came up with some pretty whack stuff back in the day."
"Kim, incoming at three o'clock!" Buckaroo warned. He shot towards the young redhead, pushing her out of the walker's aim.
Kim was about to thank him when she saw a walker from over his shoulder aim one of its stake like feet at Buckaroo. "Time to move!" she yelled, pushing him out of the way a split second before he would have been impailed.
"Thanks for the save, Kim," Buckaroo said. "I'm getting too old for this."
"No big. Besides, I owed you one," Kim said. "I can't believe we're doing this again. One alien invasion a lifetime is more than enough."
"Hey, this is my third," Buckaroo joked. "After a while, you get used to it."
"Sidekick coming through!" Ron screamed as he flew by at top speed. Behind him were no less than three walkers.
"How did he-?" Buckaroo started to ask.
"Ron always had a knack for getting someone's attention," Kim replied. She saw the fist sized dents on the saucer shaped central bodies of the walkers. "He used to klutz his way into it, but this time I think he did it on purpose."
"Are you two coming or what?!" Shego yelled. She was tossing bolt after bolt at another walker, coaxing it into following her. "Or do you want me and Stoppable to become smears on the pavement!?"
"I guess we're the ones who need to get our heads in the game," Kim said in an amused voice.
Kim gave chase to the walker on the left, while Buckaroo took the one on the right. "Upload the program while Shego and Ron have them distracted!" Buckaroo ordered.
Great minds think alike, Kim thought. She landed in the exact center of the saucer and found a slight depression in the dome. She pressed it, causing a panel to slide open, revealing a triangular port. From a pouch on her leg, Kim pulled out a cable that had a USB port on one end, that she plugged into her Kimmunicator, and a triangular adaptor on the other, that went into the walker.
"Okay, Wade," she said as soon as the young genius's face appeared. "Ready to initiate download."
"Downloading now," Wade said.
"Exactly how long is this going to take?"
"We're dealing with alien technology, Kim. The two different codes might not be as compatible as I thought. It could take a few minutes, or a few days." The Kimmunicator beeped as the walker came to a halt. "Done."
The walker Buckaroo landed on was the next to stop, followed by Ron's. Shego vaulted up the legs of her machine, and uploaded the program soon after. "Well, that was only slightly less difficult than getting my son to go to sleep at night," she deadpanned. "Now what?"
"Now we get these back to Drew and my dad," Kim said. "We need to get these things armed and ready to take on the others."
An alarm sounded from the smart phone in Shego's leg pouch. "What now?" She read the message on her phone and her eyes went wide. "Someone just stole the overthruster!"
"How?" Ron asked. "I thought you had that place locked down tighter than Fort Knox!"
"I did," Shego said in an annoyed tone, "but that doesn't work if someone BLOWS THE PLACE UP!"
"New plan, Wade," Kim said. "The walkers will go to the Space Center without us, and we'll go check out the Tech Museum. I don't think this is a coincidence."
"This was just a distraction," Buckaroo said, almost to himself.
"You know, I don't remember the Lorwardians being this crafty before," Ron pointed out
"That's because they weren't," Shego said after hitching a ride with Kim. "You think that Lectoid guy's making the plans now?"
Buckaroo nodded in the negative. "No, Ya-ya wasn't that smart, or that patient. The last time he went for the overthruster, it was a frontal assault. The only planning he did was to hit the Institute after business hours." Buckaroo shot ahead of the others. "If someone with this tactical of a mind has the overthruster, then we might be in bigger trouble than we thought."
"I thought the stupid thing didn't work anymore," Shego pointed out.
"That doesn't mean it can't be repaired." Buckaroo growled. "I should have destroyed that damn thing in 1984 when I had the chance."
----
The front of the Middleton Tech Museum had been reduced to flaming rubble. As much as Warpaath liked going in under the radar, sometimes he couldn't resist the allure of gratuitous destruction to achieve his goals. He proudly emerged from the smoke and fire with the overthruster in his hands. He looked down at it, curious about how so primitive a device could be so powerful. "The overthruster is mine, John Ya-ya," he said to the Red Lectroid who was still shackled to the sky cycle.
"Then I'm here to take it back," a voice from above declared.
When Warpaath looked up he saw an older human male in some kind of flight capable uniform. "That device is property of the Banzai Institute," Buckaroo said. "And as a duly designated representative, I must insist that you return it immediately."
"Banzai!" John Ya-ya spat. He sized up his now grey haired foe. "You've deteriorated over the years."
"I'd prefer to think that I'm like a fine wine; I just get better with age." Buckaroo eased off on his jets and came in for a landing. "At least I'm not some kind of a pet."
Ya-ya's eyes narrowed. "Release me, Master, and I will dispatch this ape for you."
Warpaath sneered at the sight before him. "So you are the hated Buckaroo Banzai. I must say, I'm unimpressed."
"I was about to say the same thing about you," a female voice said. Warpaath looked up and saw the flame haired consort of the Great Blue lowering a green skinned woman to the ground.
"Yeah," the green one added, her hands sheathed in green plasma. "You're kinda scrawny, ain't ya? I'll bet the other kids used to pick on you for being so skinny. They probably gave you swirlies, too. Maybe that's why you went bald."
Warpaath ignored the taunts; neither knowing nor caring what a "swirlie" was. He was more interested in this emerald hued female's hands. "Biologically generated plasma," he observed. "Converted from stored solar radiation, I would imagine. Perhaps I'll harvest some of your DNA and try to replicate it."
"You won't get the chance, stringbean!" Shego shot into action, lunging at the green alien and aiming her flaming fist at his jaw. Warpaath quickly and effortlessly dodged the attack, and swept Shego's feet out from under her.
"Really, these displays of violence are pointless," he said.
Kim wasn't buying it. "This coming from a Lorwardian? Sorry, but you people so live for this! That Warhok guy couldn't get enough."
"While it is true that we do live for the thrill of conquest, it is also true that Warhok was nothing but a musclebound simpleton." Warpaath's lips split into an evil grin, exposing teeth that could only be described as fangs. "I am Warpaath, and I am here to finish what my feeble compatriot began."
"What is it with all the 'war' names?" Ron asked as he touched down.
Warpaath growled at the Monkey Master. "At last we meet, Great Blue."
"Wait what?" Ron asked. He looked down at Rufus, who was in the special pouch on Ron's leg. Rufus shrugged. "Uh, dude, maybe you need to get your eyes checked. I'm not so blue. Or so great, for that matter."
"Wait, 'Great Blue' is what Warmonga called Drew," Shego said. "And now you think it's Stoppable?"
Warpaath's cool demeanor vanished as he dropped the overthruster and lunged at Shego, only to get tagged in the chest and knocked back by a low level plasma burst. "You are not worthy to speak Warmonga's name," Warpaath panted as he pulled himself back onto his feet.
"Maybe not, but you're not worthy to have this, either," Kim said, holding up the overthruster.
"Master, the overthruster!" Ya-ya called. In a desperate move, Warpaath tapped a button on his gauntlet, releasing Ya-ya's bonds. The Red Lectroid sprang into action and flew at Kim, only to have Ron's fist meet him halfway, knocking him on his back.
The momentary distraction was all Warpaath needed. He leapt at Kim with amazing speed. She only had enough time to throw the overthruster to Buckaroo before she was captured in Warpaath's vice like grip. "An impressive attack, Great Blue. Even the most skilled Lorwardian conqueror would be hard pressed to match your speed. Now stand down and allow me to depart with the overthruster or something.... unfortunate..... may befall your battle-mate."
Buckaroo saw that Shego was about to strike. He motioned for her to stop. "Let her go, Warpaath."
"The overthruster, Banzai, or the fire haired one becomes my newest trophy."
"You just said the wrong thing, dude." Ron's eyes turned a violent blue, and the sounds of shrieking monkeys filled the air. Rufus sensed what was going on, and bolted from Ron's pocket to find a safer hiding place. Warpaath, meanwhile, tightened his grip on Kim.
"Ron, don't," Buckaroo warned.
Ron could see the determined look in Kim's eyes. "Don't need to, Buckaroo. KP's got this under control."
On cue, Kim extended her legs out in front of her and bent her knees. "Trophy this," she said, driving her feet into Warpaath's nearest knee with all her might. The Lorwardian called out more in surprise than pain, and fell to one knee. But before Kim could vault away, Warpaath's hand shot out and caught her by the throat.
Ron turned blue and prepaired to strike. "At last the Great Blue shows his true colors!" he laughed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Why not?" Ron growled.
"Because I can snap her neck before you can move." Warpaath tightened his grip, cutting off air and forcing Kim to her knees.
"You son of a-" Shego started to say.
"Insults to my parentage will have no effect on me, green one," Warpaath said calmly. "The choice is yours, Great Blue. The overthruster, or your mate. I doubt even your powers can raise the dead." Warpaath traced his thumb along Kim's jaw. "Just a flick of my wrist is all it will take."
"It's okay, Ron," Buckaroo said. He put the overthruster down at Warpaath's feet. "Let him go. I don't think he's leaving the planet anytime soon."
"Yes, listen to Buckaroo Banzai," Warpaath taunted. "We will have our reckoning soon enough; at a time and place of my choosing. I know your weakness, Great Blue. Your spine will be mounted in a place of honor on my wall." Warpaath grabbed the overthruster, never releasing his grip on Kim's throat.
"Let her go!" Ron yelled.
"I think not," Warpaath replied. "She's much too good a bargaining chip." Warpaath slowly closed his fist, enjoying the power he had over the "Great Blue." He let out an amused chuckle. "It's funny that one as powerful as you has fallen for that cosmic joke called love, Great Blue. Pehapas you are not so great after all." At that moment Warpaath felt something sharp tear into his wrist. With a surprised yelp he released Kim and tried to swat away whatever had dared to bite him.
"Uh oh," a brave mole rat squeaked, barely missing being smashed. Kim gathered Rufus up and quickly ducked out of the way.
"Accursed vermin!" Warpaath yelled. The momentary distraction was enough. He was hit first by a flurry of plasma bursts, then a flying kick from an enraged Monkey Master sent him flying ten feet back.
"You want what Warhok and Warmonga got?" Ron demanded.
"You already killed Warmonga," Warpaath spat. "You will not sully her name by speaking it aloud!"
"Whatcha gonna do if we do?" Shego smirked, her hands aglow with green fire. "We've got my biologically generated plasma, and one seriously tweaked Great Blue. What do you have?"
"What you would call a trump card." Warpaath pressed a button on his gauntlet and pointed towards the museum. "I just activated the detonator for the hypermatter bomb I left in those ruins. Hypermatter emits a rather nasty type of radiation. In five of your minutes, the magnetic field containing that radiation will collapse, releasing a cloud of death that will blanket this city and destroy every living thing in it."
"Hypermatter?" Ron asked, helping Kim to her feet. "That sounds like something from Space Passage."
"While I don't know what this 'Space Passage' is, I do know when I'm being mocked," Warpaath snarled. "We'll see who laughs when the hypermatter radiation reduces every male, female, and child in this city to puddles of goo!" He let a finger drift to his gauntlet control. "Perhaps I'll just collapse the field early and watch the festivities."
"Not so fast!" Shego yelled. She charged her hands and prepared to attack the Lorwardian.
"I'm sure your fire could do serious damage, green one," Warpaath admitted. "But know this; if you incinerate me, the deactivation signal will automatically be sent to the bomb, deactivating the magnetic field and releasing the radioactive cloud. Attack me, and this city will be populated entirely by ghosts!"
"It'll take you out, too," Kim pointed out.
"That would be true, were it not for the personal radiation shield built into my gauntlets," Warpaath sneered. "I will be quite safe, I assure you."
"Not a very honorable tactic," Buckaroo said, trying to figure out a way of getting Warpaath's control gauntlet.
Warpaath sat astride his sky cycle. "Who said anything about honor, Buckaroo Banzai? Only victory matters, and my victory is at hand. The choice is yours. Attempt to stop me, and everyone in this city dies. Or let me go with my prize and save everyone." The look in Buckaroo's eyes gave Warpaath his answer. "Until next time, Buckaroo Banzai. Perhaps I will add your spine to my collection, as well." With that, he engaged the cycle's jets and started to raise to the sky.
"Master!" John Ya-ya called out. "What about me?"
"What about you?" the Lorwardian huffed. "I know that you had no intention of delivering your fellow Red Lectroids to my command. Just as I had no intention of ever setting foot on Planet 10, let alone wasting the resources to conquer it. The overthruster is all that interested me, and now that I have it, I have no more use for you. Farewell, John Ya-ya. May you rot for all eternity in whatever hell your race believes in." Warpaath activated the torture modules in Ya-ya's body, and turned them up to full. Ya-ya's limbs tensed up as his central nervous system was overloaded. "Die well, reptile!" He turned to Ron and Kim. "Another time, Great Blue," he said, right before taking to the sky.
John Ya-ya hit the ground hard as the modules kicked into high gear. Buckaroo was at his side immediately. Thanks to years of friendship with a Black Lectroid named John Parker, Buckaroo had knowledge of Lectroid physiology; he just hoped it was enough. He felt around Ya-ya's throat looking for a pulse; it was weak and erratic. He lowered his face to the Lectroid's blunt snout. "He's hardly breathing." Buckaroo quickly reached into one of the pouches of his utility belt and pulled out a field medical kit. "I only hope this works," he said, pulling out the CPR mask and fittin it over Ya-ya's reptilian face. He then tore off the Kimmunicator and placed it on Ya-ya's chest, activating its defibrillator mode in case the Red Lectroid flat lined. Buckaroo Banzai and John Ya-ya were enemies, but Buckaroo was still a doctor. He had taken an oath to do no harm, and that oath was binding, even if it meant saving the life of a sworn enemy.
"Hey, Nerdlinger!" Shego yelled into her Kimmunicator. "Any way of knowing if that hypermatter bomb is for real?"
"I don't even know what hypermatter is!" Wade replied. "All I know for sure is, there are no energy signatures in there; not even for the magnetic containment field he was talking about."
Shego rolled her eyes in disgust. "Perfect. That means I have to go in there and look for it!"
"Do you even know what a hypermatter bomb looks like?" Wade asked.
"No. Do you?" Shego retorted.
"Not really, no." Wade started typing furiously on his keyboard. "I'm gonna see if I can boost your Kimmunicator's sensitivity to electromagnetic fields."
Shego ran at full speed into the wreckage of the museum. "Great. How do I defuse the stupid thing once I find it?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," was the only answer Wade could give.
While Shego hunted for the bomb and Buckaroo attempted to resusitate his foe, Ron was checking Kim's neck. Rufus had climbed onto Kim's shoulder and was nuzzling her face.
"I'm okay, Ron," Kim said, rubbing her throat. "Just a little light headed." She took Rufus from her shoulder and kissed his head. "My hero."
"Awww," Rufus blushed. "No big."
"He was gonna kill you, KP," Ron said angrily. "It's like he was hiding behind you. That so doesn't make sense! The other two never hid."
"The other two never used these kinds of diversions before, either," Kim said calmly. "We can't treat Warpaath like Warhok. But you're right, Ron; he was using me as a human shield." Kim looked Ron in the eyes. "Did you notice that he hardly threw a punch?"
"I only noticed when he tried to choke you to death," Ron growled.
"That's what I mean," Kim said. "He tripped Shego, grabbed me, and he got me by the throat. That was it! The rest of it was threats and posturing. I think he was either afraid to fight, or didn't know how."
"That dude's got issues," Ron said. "What was up with him going all freak out when someone mentioned Warmonga?"
Kim looked slightly down. "I have my suspicions," she said. Suspicions that kind of hit close to home.
"That Warpaath guy's devious, I'll give him that!" Shego called from the ruined museum entrance. "There was no bomb. It was just a ploy so we'd let him get away with the overthruster."
"And we fell for it," Ron grumbled.
"We so couldn't take the chance it was a bluff, Ron," Kim said.
"Bluff or not, Warpaath's still a monster," Buckaroo added from John Ya-ya's side. The Red Lectroid was letting out sputtering coughs as Buckaroo turned him on his side. "I almost lost him a few times. We need to get Ya-ya back to the Space Center and see if we can figure out what Warpaath did to him."
"I used to say I was evil," Shego said. "But even at my worst I had nothing on this guy! And now he's got the overthruster."
"At least we still have an advantage there," Buckaroo sighed. "It hasn't worked in well over a decade."
"You think he can fix it?" Ron asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he could, Ron," Buckaroo replied. "He's not like Warhok and Warmonga. They relied on brute force when they attacked, but Warpaath made plans on top of plans. He's smart enough to keep five steps ahead of us, and that makes him dangerous."
"I still don't get it," Shego said. "I mean, I see why lizard lips over there wanted the overthruster. He wanted to get his buddies out and cause trouble. But why does tall, green, and angry want it? I mean, other than going through mountains and opening doors to the 8th Dimension, what value does it have?"
"I don't know, Shego," Buckaroo said, before looking over at John Ya-ya. "But we now have access to inside information."
"What makes you think I'd help you?" the Red Lectroid demanded in a weak voice.
"The chance at payback against the Lorwardian for one," Buckaroo replied.
"And two," Shego added, igniting her plasma powers, "it'll make me very irritated if you don't."
"And you so don't want to get her irritated," Kim added.
Ya-ya could feel the heat from Shego's hands, even though she was still a few feet away from her. Ya-ya swallowed hard. "It would seem that I have no choice but to cooperate."
Shego grinned. "None whatsoever."
----
Author's Note:
The name "Warlorrd" for the Lorwardian leader was suggested by Eddy13, and used with permission. I owe you one, buddy!