I do not own any characters named herein from Disney, and am only using them for a tale meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: Possibly Strange
By LJ59
8
"If this works," Kim said as Wade himself inserted the smaller than usual syringe into the small man he held carefully in forceps as his gloved hands moved warily around the struggling, if diminutive captive he held. "We have to see if it will work on others."
"Well, without the irradiated samples I based Shego's anti-serum on, there should be no…..empowering of his metabolic reaction thanks to the new reagents I worked out based on his own blood. He should simply lose the desire, or even the need to drink blood," Wade pointed out.
"Better be careful with this one, Nerdlinger," Shego said glumly. "I think he's the type that would kill even if he weren't a blood-drinking freak."
"I guessed," the stocky teen drawled as he carefully placed the captive back in his plastic prison. "I'll keep an eye on him," Kim was told as Wade closed, and locked the prison that held the small man. "If the timeframe is similar, then we should see a reaction by tomorrow morning at the latest," she was told as he turned to face her. "Or soon after."
"So, what's the verdict on me? Were the twin terrors right," Shego asked sardonically.
"They were essentially accurate in their assessment," he nodded. "What you need to know is that your cells do have a limited capacity for storage, and…"
"Uh, in English, kid. I never even got through high school. Okay?"
"Right. Right. At any rate, in English, your body's cells can only soak up so much energy from the sun, or high-intensity light rays before you have to….. Well, vent. Be it through physical exertion, or using the…..energetic discharges you manifested earlier. Too much build-up could prove….harmful. I'm guessing it would likely be…..painful, too."
"Well, duh."
Kim, who had heard her shrill scream when she first fell into the sun shivered.
"You have no idea," she muttered.
"Neither do you, Kimmie, but thinks for sympathizing," she drawled.
"Okay. So, we know Hench, and thus Henchco, is now actively moving on you," Wade dismissed the irrelevancies as he viewed them. "Does this mean Global Justice will finally let you take them on?"
"Betty is questioning the men we captured. Uhm, those not in ICU," she sighed, knowing she had put her own share there, not having been holding back when she saw them going after her family.
Then, too, whatever Tim had done to that taser wand had amped the pulse high enough to put some of the men in comas. His victims weren't going to be talking to anyone until the shock wore off, or something else brought them around.
Then there were the men Shego plowed through.
"I would like to think even your…..employer can see some reason," he said, and went to sit at a very crowded desk in the middle of what seemed a personal lab that had been built around an unmade bed in an ordinary boy's bedroom.
Only even his desk wasn't crowded with the usual clutter. It was buried under electronic devices built into a large computer that seemed to grow from there, and even filled the walls around them.
"So, you don't like her either," Shego grinned, picking up on his tone.
"Wade doesn't trust too many people," Kim admitted. "So, the fact you're even here says a lot."
Wade glanced back at them, a somber look on his plain, round features, and just snorted as he tapped a few keys, and monitors around them came on.
"So, you're not just an agoraphobic," Shego grinned, pointedly ignoring that scowl.
"I don't mind leaving my room, or my house," Wade drawled. "I simply see no reason to do so when all I need is here," he stated bluntly.
"Okay," Shego remarked, looking around the bedroom all but literally covered in tech, and electronic parts.
"Wade is gifted," Kim told her. "He has more brains than the Pentagon's think-tanks, and trust me, I know what I'm saying there."
"I'll take your word for it. So, what if the Harpy doesn't agree to let you go after Jack?"
"Then we flush him out," Wade drawled,
"And the new pet," Shego asked, eyeing Deacon again.
"If the serum works, we drag him to jail, and let him face whatever he has coming."
"And if it doesn't," she asked Kim bluntly.
Kim eyed the man inside the cage glaring hotly at them.
"Then, we may consider burying him," Wade stated so blandly Shego knew he wasn't kidding.
The man shook a tiny fist at Wade, but his squeaking voice was barely audible behind that plastic barrier at his size.
"I'll help dig the hole," Shego smiled. "After we barbecue him a little," she smiled thinly.
The man glared impotently, but let his fist drop.
"Okay, I'm in," Wade told Kim even though he didn't even look back at her.
"In? In what," Shego asked as she turned back to the kid whose fingers were dancing over the hybrid keyboard that seemed to curve around his chair at the desk.
"Jack Hench's personal computers," Kim smirked. "I did a mission a while back, and managed to put a bug in one of his Hench's private phones. We knew they would be calling in sooner or later, and when he did, the virus slipped in, and began to infect his machines. By now, it's spread across his system, and is in anything, and likely everything he owns. We left it inactive to date so no one could detect it, saving it for an emergency."
"So, you gave him a computer bug," Shego frowned. "So what?"
"So, it's a bug which gives us a look into everything he's been doing of late," Wade said, and one of his monitors began to scroll data.
"Isn't that illegal," Shego frowned. "I mean, I thought you were good guys, or something?"
"We are people that get things done," Kim said grimly as Wade just glanced back at her, his fingers still moving.
"Exactly," Wade acknowledged. "And…..there. Five million dollars deposited to an account for Thaddeus Draven in a very clichéd Swiss bank. I can backtrack the accounts, and….. There. Looks like Draven is someone who feels there is no such thing as enough. His private accounts hold over….. Wow. Two hundred billion?"
Wade smiled up at them.
"Any favorite charities you would like to name," he asked. "Because these guys are about to be very, very generous."
"You're kidding. Do you know how pissed you're going to make…..?"
"Right. I'll just use the regulars," Wade nodded at Kim. "Meanwhile, looks like Jack just called Austria. He's really desperate if he's calling Dementor."
"I wouldn't call it desperate. Try insane," Kim muttered.
"Well, it does fit. And, hello there," Wade smiled. "Just before that call, he called a house on the far side of Upperton. A rental property recently leashed by Thad Holiday. Ring any bells?"
"Draven's father is named Thaddeus," Shego said quietly. "He's also visited the area Elders a lot lately."
"You can bet he's probably waiting for his jerk to show back up. Why not go tell him the bad news personally?"
"Are you serious? He's going to have a household just like the Elders, Kimmie. Complete with Clan guards, and a few potentially dangerous Norms that will literally die for him," Shego told her.
"No big. Wade, I want some more of that serum. I won't use it until you scan those I meet, and think it will work. Or, if I need a fallback. Meanwhile, we need to do something they won't expect. And charging the enemy stronghold….."
"Is incredibly stupid," Shego declared.
"Is what I'm good at," Kim countered.
"She is good," Wade smiled now. "And considering what you're facing, it's a good thing I finished up that prototype."
"Seriously," Kim brightened as he reached down with one hand, pulling open a drawer.
"I was about to ship it to your place, but since you called me first," he said, pulling out a small shoebox. "I decided to surprise you."
"Cool," she grinned, and opened the box to pull up a shimmering white garment with blue edging on the arms and legs.
"What, you reinvented syn-tex," Shego grunted, eyeing the bodysuit.
"No. It's a body-augmenting device. In essence, it amps the kinetic energy that simultaneously feeds the speed, strength, and reflexes of the wearer by a factor of ten. Or that's the theory. It just needs testing."
"Cool," Kim grinned. "I can't wait to try it out."
"Are you serious," Shego exclaimed. "You're saying that rag will make her…..?"
"Stronger, and faster. In short, more than a match for anything…..preternatural out there."
"I'll go change," Kim nodded.
"By the way, I made you a new Kimmunicator to go with it," he said. "Look in the box. It has an on-board grapple, and a stealth-cloak. Stealth is only good for five minutes so far, so use the power supply carefully."
Kim pulled out the oversized watch, and grinned.
"Thanks, Wade. You definitely still rock. I'm going to go change now. This should definitely give me an edge."
"Because you so obviously needed one," Shego muttered, still recalling how easily she had stalemated her the one time they faced off.
Wade eyed her with a dry smirk of his own.
"Kim's martial skill and experience make her more than a match for most anything normal out there," he told her as Kim left to find his bathroom. "But you yourself know there is a lot more than just the normal out there these days."
"Touché," Shego muttered. "But she didn't do too bad when she first faced me."
"True. But her skills and instincts, while they helped, don't undermine the fact you weren't trying to kill her. There are far too many people out there that are," he told her bluntly.
"How do you know…..?"
"It's amazing what you can find on the Web these days. After Kim met you, I did a full search. You have a reputation. Bad as you appear, you're almost….."
"Don't you dare say good," Shego hissed.
"I was going to say philanthropic."
"What did you call me," she growled, raising a fist that shimmered slightly.
Wade grinned.
"It might interest you to know that the Go City Orphanage just got a one-hundred million dollar donation from an anonymous benefactor," he said, tapping his far right monitor.
"You…..?"
"No. You. I used your usual open account to transfer the monies."
"You even know my accounts," Shego sputtered.
"I know everything," Wade told her solemnly, and almost ominously. "So, I'll suggest you remove the hat and gloves on the drive over, and ensure you soak up as much sun as you can before you reach your destination. I suspect more of Jack's people are going to be engaging you soon. And if Dementor is in play…."
"Who is that?"
Wade tapped a few keys.
"Shego, meet Hans Heinrich DeMenz. Heir to a sizeable fortune, and a string of strudel factories his mother runs for him."
"He's a dwarf. Big whoop," she scoffed, eyeing the image a short, stocky man in a sharp suit standing in an obvious family portrait, his surly features twisted into a bleak scowl. The goatee he affected didn't help his looks.
"Now, meet Professor Dementor. Self-styled genius, but thankfully not on my level," Wade added. "And a genuine madman whose first official criminal act was the slaughter of his entire family. Except for his mother."
"I get it. A psycho."
"Unfortunately, a fairly intelligent psycho. He is using his family fortune to finance some of the most bizarre schemes imaginable in an aim to take over Europe."
"Not the world?"
"He allows that would be too ambitious a start. Europe first. Then the rest of the world. He is quite serious about that," Wade informed her.
"And Kimmie hasn't faced him down?"
"She has faced him three times. Stalemates every time. Unless you count the fact he all but gutted her the last time she met, and she almost bled to death before she found help."
Shego remembered when the girl mentioned passing out once due to blood loss.
"She almost died?" Shego shook her head. "And she isn't worried about...?"
"Kim is….."
"How's it look," Kim grinned as she walked into the room just then.
"You didn't change…..?"
"It's underneath," Kim said to Shego's query, still wearing her weird, shapeless top, and loose cargos. "Why warn the baddies I have a new trick until I'm ready to use it," she grinned.
"Smart. Better empty your pockets, though," Kim was told by Wade as he eyed her. "Use the suit's equipment belt."
"Okay, but….?"
"Seriously. When you activate the suit, the field aura will sear off anything you're wearing. Or, any ropes, if you happen to be tied up."
"Really? Good to know. Okay, Shego. Ready to go?"
"Sure, why not," she grumbled, eyeing Wade.
The kid wasn't what she expected when she first 'met' him, and Kim explained him to her. She half expected some leering voyeur afraid to face the world, and living vicariously through Kim, and his cyber world. In his way, though, he was likely as idealistic as her.
And more than earnest about helping her help others.
"See you around, kid," she growled, and headed for the door. "Thanks for the…..help."
"His name is Wade," Kim said, following her.
"Or Nerdlinger. Or Brainiac. Or….."
"Are you deliberately belligerent by nature, or do you practice," Kim demanded of her.
Wade didn't hear the reply as they headed out the front door.
He slowly turned to eye the small captive in his cage, and stared for a moment.
"You'd better hope the cure works. Or you won't have to worry about Kim, or Shego," Wade told him so grimly that Deacon suddenly realized he was worrying about the wrong enemy.
KP
"Dr. Director," Kim answered the dash-com not a minute after they left Wade's house.
"Kim, I know you just met with….."
She paused, glancing around via the screen, and then eyed Kim again.
"Is that Shego in the car with you?"
"Yeah. How about that? And since it's not even night, and the sun is sure bright, she can't possibly be what you thought, since she's here with me helping find the real slasher."
Shego started to scowl at Kim, but there glaring at her from the com-monitor was an even bigger pain in her backside that had chased her since the start.
"Hey, Bets. Ever get that stick out of your…..?"
"I don't know what's going on now, Kimberly, but I want you to bring her in for debriefing. Now."
"No can do. We just got a definite lead from one of Jack's goons, and it looks like he just called in Dementor."
Betty's bland expression almost cracked.
"You're certain?"
"We might have….found a few phone records we checked. Nothing illegal on Jack's end, yet. But he definitely called Dementor. So, yeah, better tell the guys out there to keep an eye out. You know how splashy that freak can be," she said nonchalantly.
Shego noted that, too.
"And why does that negate the necessity of bringing in a known felon," Betty demanded.
"For one, she's not a known anything. Suspicion isn't implication. Shego admitted she was on the scene of that murder, but she showed up late, and was trying to help the woman. Not kill her. Your witness was confused. Considering her condition, it isn't too surprising," Kim commented.
"I'll be the judge of….."
"We're headed for a possible real suspect now. Be in touch," Kim told her.
"Hold on! Where are you…..?"
"Nice boss you have there," Shego murmured. "So, mind answering a few for me?"
"If I can," Kim nodded, already having shut off the com. "Something bothering you," she asked.
"You could say that. You mentioned that woman I found. Can't she clear me?"
"She died. They're keeping that one quiet just now. Too much bad press over the killings, and Betty hopes keeping people speculating will bring the killer after her in the hospital. She has six of her best waiting."
"Talk about clichéd. No one would fall for that one these days," Shego snorted.
"Some still do," Kim admitted. "I know, I've been the bait a few times."
"That reminds me. You're awfully blasé about this metal-head you mentioned. Only Wade told me he almost killed you the last time you met. Aren't you afraid…..?"
"He suckered me. Hid behind his hostages," Kim told her grimly, her expression telling.
"And…..?"
"And he killed them in front of me after he almost killed me. He left me alive so I could watch. He's twisted like that. Then he left me for dead, sure I couldn't find help, or survive."
"Damn, Possible," Shego remarked. "And you don't worry about meeting him again?"
"No. I anticipate seeing him again. A lot. I've picked up a few new tricks since then, and I fully intend to repay him for his…..attention."
Shego said nothing to that.
"So, on top of that, we have to survive what is likely going to be a deathtrap, get GJ off our collective backs, and do something with Deacon whatever else happens. That about it?"
"Just another day at the office," Kim smiled.
"You," Shego huffed, "Need a new office."
"I don't know. It can be fun."
"Fun? I don't think….. Ow!"
"What's wrong," Kim glanced at her, seeing her holding up her right hand.
"I have nails."
"Uh, yeah," Kim frowned at her as Shego stared at her fingers.
"No. I was scratching my neck, and….. Not nails. I have claws," she realized, looking at the thicker, slightly tapered nails that now replaced her once softer nails.
"Wow," Kim murmured, glancing at her hands. "Wade did so not mention that one."
"What else didn't he mention," Shego complained, still staring at her hands.
"Let me put this on auto-drive. I'd better look at you…..neck," she said, throwing the switch, and then pushing Shego's long, dark mane aside to stare at her green flesh.
"What," the woman huffed when Kim only stared.
"Shego….."
"What," she complained again, turning to eye her. "Don't tell me I need a freaking doctor, because…."
"No. No, I see the blood," Kim replied, her slender fingers wiping at her unseen flesh, "But there isn't a mark on you. Not even a scratch."
Shego stared at her.
"You're joking?"
"I wouldn't joke about this. Scratch your arm," she told her, looking thoughtful.
"Are you nuts?"
"Do it. I have a theory."
"That requires hurting myself," she huffed even as she pulled up the sleeves on her left arm.
"Shego….."
"Fine. What are you, a sa…..dist," she trailed off, staring as she used one new claw to dig into her own flesh, watching dark blood well up even as the wound closed, knitted, and vanished in but seconds before their eyes.
"Holy…crap," Shego rasped. "Even the Elders can't do this. We heal, yeah, but it takes time."
"No? Good to know," she said, eyeing Shego's arm as the woman pulled the sleeves of her coat, and dark bodysuit back down.
"So. Plasma of some kind. Enhanced strength, claws, and now….ferociously fast healing. I'm starting to envy you," Kim grinned.
"Yeah, because the complexion to die for wasn't enough?"
"Oh. Right. But you were always green, right? Besides, it seems to fit you."
"Fit me. Jeez, Kimmie. No wonder you don't date."
"I date," she squeaked.
"Yeah? How often?"
"Well, not recently."
"How recently," Shego pushed.
"Uh, let me think."
"That long ago," Shego smirked. "And for your information, my pigmentation changed after I went from dead to wish-I-was dead. Something to do with the necrosis during my near death, and….change. It happens, I'm told, among some of the others like….."
"Not you. Not anymore," Kim smiled. "Now, you're definitely one of a kind. Still, you are kind of gorgeous, too," Kim grinned.
"What are you, a freaking lesbian rake, or something? No, that can't be it. You don't date."
Kim sputtered.
Shego only sniggered.
"Gotcha," she grinned as Kim glared at her now.
To Be Continued….