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Kim Possible: Morality's Choice - Chapters 1.10 & 1.11 - Actions & Reactions
It was an order that felt distasteful even as it left her lips. Until this evening Kim Possible had always been a shining example of the goodness of human nature. She had acted selflessly time and again, never turning down a cry for help and never asking anything in return. Betty had even secretly hoped she might join up with Global Justice someday, but all that hope was vanquished with those three simple words.
Betty's team wasted no time in surrounding Kim. Though they themselves also held a great respect for the teen hero, they never refused a direct order. They stared down at the former team hero, every soldier equally tense but prepared to act should Kim Possible so much as twitch a muscle.
Kim was less then happy with the way this evening was turning out. All she had wanted was to gain back control of her life, to be able to start making her own choices about who she was and what she did, but the moment she tried to stand up for herself, just as she had began to take her first step, in came the world to knock her right back down. You can't do that, it's not right, your a hero, heroes don't get to stand up for themselves.
As she swept wide across the trio of soldiers immediately in front of her she realized that it seemed that was the way of things. Those in control only stayed that way by making sure no one could rise up against them. Well she done with rolling over, she wasn't about to let anyone even Global Justice dictate her life anymore. They wanted to side with Ron and Bonnie? They wanted to arrest her for standing up and punishing those who hurt her? Then so be it, she'd fight them to.
She flipped back away from a pair of soldiers who made a lunge to grab her and slammed her elbow back into the stomach of the soldier directly behind her. As he fell she kicked his body sideways into the approaching soldiers who were trying to circle her again. Fighting Global Justice turned out to be remarkably a lot like fighting the numerous henchmen she had faced in countless lairs, it was just a matter of keeping mobile and targeting her strikes. As she knocked one soldier forward onto his face with a well placed kick to his knee joint she smirked. If this was the best they had then maybe she could still salvage this night.
Realization, however, set in shortly. Though she had managed to knockout a few of the men , she was slowing down. It took a lot of energy to dodge and fight this many opponents at once and as yet another soldier met the end of her first she realized that if she kept this up they'd win on pure numbers. She looked around and wondered just how many soldiers Betty Director had brought. For every two or three she knocked down just as many seemed to appear and take their place. As she slammed her foot down on the wrist of one of the men who had managed to grab her leg, her face went hard. If she wanted to survive this night she was going to have to retreat, something she had never done before. If she stayed she might be able to keep fighting but she knew she wouldn't win.
Kim reached into her pocket and produced a small silver orb that she had found while setting up for the evening. She didn't know exactly what it did, but it looked like a smoke bomb she had seen in the past and right now it was her best shot at some breathing room. Before the pair of soldiers who were rushing her from both sides could get a step closer she threw it to the floor as hard as she could. She was satisfied to see she was right as it shattered against the hard floor and smoke began pouring out of it and filling the warehouse. It wouldn't last long she knew not with one of the building walls missing, but then again that same hole made for a handy and quick exit. She rolled away from the confused soldiers and flattened herself as low to the ground as she could and slowly made her way towards the blown wall. As she crawled she realized how angry she was at having leave both Ron and Bonnie to recover, but she vowed to herself that it was only for a short time. Global Justice couldn't watch them all the time, she reasoned, she would just have to watch and wait for her chance.
- - - - -
Betty Director was furious. Out of the center of her squad of soldiers had exploded a huge cloud of smoke and it had quickly filled the whole warehouse. She knew it must have been Kim and she mentally kicked herself for not being as prepared as it seemed Kim had been. She bellowed to her men to find Kim Possible before the red head could put this distraction to good use. She was confident that the former hero wouldn't be able to escape a building full of Global Justice agents, but every second they wasted lost in this damn smoke gave her a greater chance to do just that.
- - - - -
Kim did indeed manage to slip out of the building, but the expanded parking lot did little to end her problems. She knew Global Justice would be right behind her yet had no idea where she was running to nor how to even put a great enough distance between herself and them to truly escape. If she had stopped to consider the irony of her situation, how many times she had placed criminals in just this situation, she might have laughed. As she began bounding towards the buildings across the street she heard a voice ring out.
"Things not quite working out for you Princess?"
She looked up towards the sound of the voice and was mildly displeased, though mostly surprised, to see Shego hanging out of a helicopter that hovered silently just a short distance away. She gritted her teeth and addressed her unexpected arrival.
"What do you want Shego. I'm kind of busy at the moment."
She gave a short and harsh laugh.
"So it seems. Need a lift?"
Kim was, to put it mildly, shocked. Just what kind of fool did Shego think she was?
"You expect me to believe you just happened to be here with a helicopter when Global Justice busts in on me and I have to escape? That seems a tad to convenient Shego. How do I know you weren't the ones that called them?
Typical of Shego, she just smirked.
"You want to stand there and talk about the coincidences of the universe or you want some help getting away from those idiots? Not asking to be best friends Kimmie, I'm just offering you an escape route. You don't want it, fine. Good luck getting far enough away on foot."
Kim glowered. As much as she didn't want to trust Shego, some part of her told her she should this once. Shego had proven herself enough of a friend to try and tell her about Ron and Bonnie and they had always had some level of trust between them in their fights. They might not have always seen eye to eye, but Kim knew Shego wasn't the type to openly lie about her motives. Plus, as much as she hated to admit it,Shego was right, she didn't really have any other quick exits available.
"Fine."
Kim reached up to grab the hand Shego had extended outward but as her own hand grew close Shego pulled hers back.
"Not that easy Princess. Be sure before you take my hand. This is a one way ride and it ain't free. You come with me your saying goodbye to everything you knew. I heard your speech and I promise you, come with me and you'll get the freedom your looking for. You'll get to decide who the hell you want to be and what you want to do, but it'll be at the cost of facing down everyone you used to know and losing everything your old life had. No more same old friends, no more cheerleading, no more globe trotting heroic rescues and no more dinners with the family. You really want to take control and make your own choices in life? Fine, here's your first choice."
Kim balked. What th hell kind of game was Shego playing? First she offers her a ride then she threatens to leave her? Wasn't the fact that she was literally running from Global Justice proof enough of her commitment to the choice she had made?
Despite herself though she did give thought to Shego's words. Part of her knew she had done something terrible back there, that she had intended to do worse before she had been stopped, but she didn't know just how much worse she had really meant. Would she really have gone all the way she wondered? She honestly didn't know, but she did know Shego was right yet again. If she took Shego's offer it would be the turning point, the confirmation that what she had tried to do, had wanted to do, was real and that would mean no turning back. She wouldn't see her family anymore, she wouldn't be the popular girl at school, hell she wouldn't even be at school anymore. She'd finally be able to dictate her own life and tell the world who she was, not have the world tell her, but could she stand the cost?
Shego looked down at Kim and waited. So far it had all worked out exactly as she had hoped. She had goaded the doofus sidekick enough to where she knew he would lead her straight to Kim and indeed he had. She had watched intently from the warehouse's rooftop as the events had played out and had found herself openly rooting for Kim to succeed. It was the first time Shego had ever seen Kim in such a light and the thief found it quite appealing yet none of it would mean anything if Kim didn't make this last choice herself. Your choices in life only matter when your making them of your own free will Shego thought. Either Kimmie meant what she had said about being sick of having her identity dictated to her or she was just another angry teenage girl lashing out at the world when she was hurt.
Kim took a deep breathe as she realized the truth of everything that had happened, that she had truly made her choice the moment she invited Bonnie to the warehouse. That was the moment that she choose to forge her own path and she would be damned if she would go back to being what everyone else wanted her to be, not when that life had rewarded her with a broken heart and the world treating her like a criminal. She didn't know where she would go from here, but she knew at least with Shego she'd have a fresh start.
Resolute in her choice and what it meant, Kim reached for Shego's hand again and pulled herself into the helicopter. Kim would later regret...nothing. She was done regretting she decided. From now own she was only going to make the choices she wanted and she'd never regret having that freedom. The helicopter lifted off into the night just as Global Justice came spilling out of the warehouse.
Neither woman spoke as the agents and the warehouse grew small and distant, but finally Kim looked up from her squatted position, her eyes closed as if speaking as much to herself as to Shego.
"They called me a villain...They said I was the bad guy."
Shego nodded, her tone one of total understanding.
"They always do Kimmie."
- - - - -
A strange helicopter taking off and flying into the distance was the first thing Betty and her team had noticed upon spilling outward into the parking lot yet it was the sight of the individuals sitting inside that really set her off. Kim Possible and the notorious thief Shego. It was a worst case outcome for Betty on a night that had already gone from bad to worse. She didn't know what the situation between the two woman was, nor how Shego had just happened to be present when Kim Possible had run out of the warehouse, but she knew it would not lead to any pleasant future situations.
Furious at both the evening's turn of events and the fact that Kim Possible had managed to escape Betty Director turned her attention to the only situation she still had total control of, the sidekick and the cheerleader. She knew they were they were the key to truly finding out just what had led to all this and she was going to make sure they revealed everything to her if she had to drag it out of them.
She wasted no time in returning to the warehouse, and was somewhat pleased to see that not all of her team was incompetent. The medical team had managed to patch up Ron Stoppable and free the cheerleader from whatever that device was that she was trapped in so she turned to the wounded but bandaged Ron Stoppable, in the mood to mince words
"What happened between you as this cheerleader Mr. Stoppable?"
Ron was shocked. How did everyone know there was something going on with him and Bonnie? Had it been that obvious?
"Umm well Miss Director...Ma'am, it's a long story. I guess it really started..."
Betty Director listened stoically as Ron Stoppable related a tale involving a souring dating life with Kim Possible and growing comfortableness with the cheerleader Bonnie Rockwaller. When he reached the part about the kiss in front of the school it all became rather clear. Betty realized that Kim Possible had likely seen that kiss, unbeknownst to either of the two participants, and had taken the worst possible reaction to such a betrayal.
Betty sighed inwardly and turned away from Ron Stoppable. She had always known Kim Possible as a great hero, but the pragmatist in her also knew everyone, no matter how good, had a dark side. It seemed that the kiss was the event that finally brought Kim Possible's out yet from her rants that evening it was clear to Betty that Kim had had larger issues brewing for a great while.
She scowled around the warehouse as she considered her options. Given Kim Possible's training and experience, it was going to take a very well trained team to have any hope of catching her and the presence of Shego made matters much worse. Though Global Justice had a file a mile long on Shego, they had had very few encounters with the thief. That did not stop her reputation though and if it was even half true and she and Kim were suddenly to begin working together Betty realized that they would be as close to an unstoppable team as the world have ever seen.
Betty turned again to face Ron Stoppable, her mood no more improved by what she had learned.
"Mr. Stoppable, the situation is as follows. Kim Possible will now be classified as a fugitive from Global Justice and will begin actively pursuing her capture. As you yourself have admitted to having a hand in what she has now become and as you know her better then anyone else, I am hereby drafting you into the formation of a Global Justice squad whose sole purpose will be the capture of Miss Possible.
"But..."
"This isn't a request Mr. Stoppable. You do not have a choice in this matter. You will either cooperate with us or I will have you thrown in jail as an accessory to Miss Possible's current and future crimes. Do I make myself clear?
Ron just sat, mouth agape at her deceleration. He knew Betty Director was not the type of person to offer up empty threats and would do just as she promised if he did not agree.
"Yes. But If I could just talk to her I know I could get her to see what is happening to her. I just need to make her understand how sorry I am..."
Both individuals were rather surprised when at that point a Bonnie stormed up, her hair still crisp and her skin red and chaffed from her restraints.
"If your going after her I'm coming along."
Betty was less the pleased with the interruption and glared coldly at the cheerleader who met Betty's eyes with a stone glare of her own.
"Miss...Rockwaller was it? You are already on thin ice. I could very well arrest you just as easily for aiding Miss Possible's decent into crime."
Bonnie was unshaken by the threat and only sneered at Betty.
"Go ahead and try it. I'll have my family's lawyers on your ass so fast you wont be able to shit without filing an injunction. That bitch tortured me tonight, she tried to kill me..."
Bonnie glanced over at Ron and for just a moment Betty saw what appeared to be a look of concern for him
"Not to mention what she did to Ron, her supposed best friend. If anyone gets a shot at taking her down its me."
Betty was slightly impressed with the girl's tenacity. Most people wilted when she fixed her cold stare at them and yet this girl seemed like she could stare down a back of wild dogs and win.
"You make a valid point Miss Rockwaller, but why would I authorize you to do anything? You are not trained in combat nor do you have a background in crime fighting like Mr. Stoppable here. You would be nothing but a casualty waiting to happen."
Bonnie appeared to almost laugh at Betty's assessment.
"Gee let me think why would you want me? How about the fact that I'm every bit the agile cheerleader Kim was, in fact I'm twice as nimble thanks to years of ballet. You want to talk fighting skills? Try growing up in a house with two older sisters and one bathroom. You wanna see just what I can do? Keep pushing me and I'll have your wrinkled ass on that floor before your one eye can blink."
Betty was genuinely amused. The girl had at least a lot of attitude and if what she said was true it would not hurt to have someone who could at least match Kim Possible's own athletic ability.
"All right Miss Rockwaller. I will allow you to join Mr. Stoppable in this endeavor on a temporary basis, but be aware I will be keeping a close eye on you. You will also begin regular training sessions with Global Justice instructors. I will not have you slowing down the team."
Bonnie gave a disinterested laugh at that idea.
"I'd be more worried about your little soldiers keeping up with me. I'm not the one who got beat by a high school cheerleader, she had to sneak up on me to win."
Betty bristled slightly, the girl's words may have been harsh but they were true. She only hoped that the girl's abilities would match her mouth because the hunt for Kim Possible began now.
Author's End Notes: Well that brings us to the end of Chapter 1 folks. I would like to thank everyone for the reviews so far, it makes posting this story worth while. Keep an eye out for Chapter 2 which should be appearing soon.