I don't own these characters, except for Trin, Shin, Tashawna, and Mr. Bane. Everyone else as you know belongs to Disney.
6: If It Isn't One Thing…
Shego and Kim could not believe their luck. They had run into another lot of henchmen as they ducked into a large room in the warehouse after Shego figured out they could use it as a shortcut to get the main baddies they wanted to get their hands on. The room filled with henchmen the moment they stepped in there. It turned out that the room was a lounge for them or something.
Usually, the couple would have some smart-aleck or sarcastic comment to say something when they ran into the room full of henchmen. They were not in their usual moods, though, and they groaned at the same time. They just wanted to get through the waves of useless bodies and get to the meat of the matter. If things got any more annoying, they might be just as bad as Shin and Trin when they reached the masterminds of such a terrible scheme. Shego was already contemplating shattering kneecaps at the least.
"This place is starting to get on my nerves," Kim growled in anger as she kicked her leg out to break through a pool stick a minion used as a weapon. Her foot went easily through the weapon with a loud snap as it splintered in two and her foot continued on to his jaw. His jaw broke almost as easily as the pool stick had. Little by little, Kim was subconsciously letting go of her usual restraints.
"It's only starting? Well, I always knew you had more patience than me, pumpkin, but damn," Shego remarked with a scoff as she flipped over the pool table in the corner of the room. She grabbed a couple of pool balls on her way over. As she landed, she plasma-charged the spheres and flung them at two men coming at her.
The men hollered in pain as the flaming pool balls connected with their shoulders. A crunch bounced off the walls as their bones broke from the impact and earned winces from some of their comrades. They were stopped dead in their tracks and had to drop to the floor because of the agony. There was no way they would be able to use those arms again for a while.
Shego then ducked another pair of men coming at her from opposite sides. They collided with each other and then she took the opportunity to punch them both in places that no man enjoyed. As they fell to the ground, she hopped back up, scanning the room to check on Kim before more men came her way.
Kim held her own, of course. There were a lot of broken pool cues for her to dodge, all kicked in half by her. She got out of the way fast enough to cause those going after her to hit each other, making for plenty of grunts, groans, and cracking noises to fill the room. Under less serious circumstances, she would have found their antics amusing and had some smart-ass comment to go with them, but she did not feel much like talking now.
It was probably better she had them clobber each other. Sure, they were going after her viciously and whacking each other with that intent, but it was nothing compared to what she might do if she got her licks in. Her rage grew with every passing second, which meant that her control was slipping and she did not care.
The more time ticked away and they did not get any closer to Drakken, Brotherson, and whoever else they were working with, the angrier Kim got. Soon, she was not content to let the henchmen hit each other, but she added to those wounds. She went at them with the intent to knock them out as fast as possible, not caring about the injuries she inflicted. She stopped short of killing them, of course, but she came closer to the point where she might leave some of them with permanent problems with each new lackey in front of her. By that point, bones certainly were broken, but she could always do worse if she got the urge.
"How many of these guys are there?" Kim practically howled in a fury as she lit into one man's abdomen with lightning fast punches. It felt like he was stuck in the gut by small cannon fire.
"I think they're just pouring in here from the outside," Shego realized since it did seem like no matter how many men they put down, there were still more coming. It was only making the couple more upset, especially since the skill-level of the fellows was not improving. They downed wave after wave with as few hits as possible, but it still seemed like they had not moved in ages.
"Got any ideas?" the redhead asked, keeping her attention focused on taking down the flood of bad guys coming at her. Hitting them only added to her blazing ire, which just meant she hit each man harder than the last. If she was not careful, she would break her own hand.
"I got a couple," Shego replied as if it was nothing while making sure to take down her own amount of goons.
The pale woman, still around the pool table, took a hold of the large recreation table. She began pushing it to the other side of the room, looking to clear a path and also to force the door shut. A few men did not get out of the way fast enough and were trapped between the front door and the pool table. Shego sucked her teeth while continuing to shove the table between the door and punishing the captured men. The men cried out and groaned. She did not care.
"You guys are in my way," she growled and pushed the table viciously against them, snaps popping through the air, and causing the men to pass out from the pain of their bones being crushed. The door was forced shut thanks to the table and bodies.
Kim kept everyone away from Shego as she went to work. The former thief used her plasma to seal the door closed, melting the hinges together and melting the door handle against the wall. That was one opening that they would not have to worry about anymore, but that begged another question.
"How the hell do we get out of here?" Shego wondered aloud as she looked around the room. There were no windows and she hated considering they were going to go through the vent. Based on the information Shin and Trin had been able to get, it might be a tight fit for her to climb into a vent. She had been through vents like that before and left with a lot less material on her uniform and sometimes less skin on her hips. It was never fun.
"Shego, why are you just standing there?" Kim inquired with a bit of a glare while continuing to beat down the remaining henchmen in the room. Now was not the time to take a break.
"I'm trying to figure out our next move since we're a bit off plan here," Shego replied with a slight attitude because of her lover's tone. She then turned her attention to the wrist computer she wore to see if she could find a different route for them to take now.
"Got anything?" Kim huffed, still fighting with the few men standing. There was no way in hell they would be trapped in this room. She would go through the wall if she had to, as soon as she had a chance to do so.
Shego decided to ignore the attitude from her girl, knowing it was not her that Kim was pissed with. Besides, Kim had a good reason to be pissed. "Apparently, we were going to have to go through a wall anyway," she answer, seeing the alternative routes that were mapped out in the computer.
"Well, if you could," Kim practically snapped.
The pale woman snorted, charged her hands as much as she could, and she ran at the wall to the left of her. She growled as she punched through the thick wall, actually hurting her hand a bit. She hissed and then got to see she just opened up a passage to another room with more men.
"This just gets better and better," Shego sighed as those men came at her, looking for trouble in her opinion. She would oblige them, especially since she had some anger she wanted to vent now that Kim seemed to be getting snappier as time went by.
-8-8-8-8-
Trin tangled with Doctor Director in the bland, narrow hallway, trying not to hurt the GJ leader too much. It was costing her. Her ribs ached and her chin probably would not be able to take one more blow.
The mind-controlled woman had already managed to slow Trin down, keeping her from locating her family. That was enough to enrage Trin, but she did not blame Betty, so she maintained control. She also did not blame the older woman for all of the insults that she hurled at Trin. The fact that she knew none of this was Betty's fault was also slowing her down as she could not bring herself to knock the woman out and risk seriously injuring her.
Despite the unusual understanding Trin allotted Betty that did not excuse the fact that the younger woman was in a spot of trouble. Betty destroyed her wrist computer, which did more than hold her map of the hideout and keep the cameras off. It was also kept the traps all around her from going off.
"Damn it," the farsighted female cursed under her breath as she fell back to avoid being burned by a laser.
Trin had to fall back into a series of flips as the hall was filled with motion sensing lasers. She found out they were not keyed on to her movement in particular, though. The traps were not controlled from what she could tell because they fired at Doctor Director just as much as they aimed at her.
"Oh, this is just great," Trin muttered to her, watching Betty charge at her, ignoring the lasers that hit her, filling the hall with the smell of burning cloth and flesh. "This woman's going to lose her other eye at this rate," the graduate student commented in a tired tone. She would have to do something. "And I won't even get a thank you for it when this is over." Not that she would want one.
Trin managed to make it around a corner, safe from Director for the moment, but she still had lasers to worry about. She had to move rapidly as a laser shot out at her from the ceiling. As she settled her footing, Betty came around the corner, aiming to hit Trin with her stun weapon on her wrist. Trin moved out of the way of that, but was burned by a laser from the side.
"Screw this," Trin said with a scowl. There was no way in Hell she was going to meet her end in a dim, ratty hallway of some rundown warehouse, not while her family counted on her. She flung three thin needles at Betty.
Though Betty was a zombie for the most part, she knew to dodge Trin's attack. The blond groaned, not expecting that. She figured since Betty did not seem to care about the traps, she would not care about other hits. But, that would be too easy, so, of course, she cared about any assaults from Trin. Trin was not about to let up and neither was her current enemy.
Lasers continued to rain down on them and Trin continued her backwards flight, making sure to keep Director away from her and watch her every move. She let a few more needles fly and one clipped Betty right in the neck. The one-eyed woman's movements almost instantly began to slow down, which left her to be cut up by the lasers.
"Perfect," Trin mumbled sarcastically. Well, that was really my fault. After all, what did I expect with that move? Well, now, she had to go correct her mistake as much as she could. "You're lucky I need to go back that way and I don't want to hear Mini-me's scolding." She could almost feel the disappointed look from her little sister if she did not do something to help the leader of Global Justice right now. It did not help matters that her aunt would also be upset with her and would guilt her right along with Kim.
The farsighted woman dashed forward, grabbing Doctor Director. Trin had to take a bit of a beating as the drug she hit Betty with slowly took effect. She dodged as best she could, but Betty was capable of compensating for her drugged state. By the time Trin made it to a safe area where she had kept the security system shut down, Betty was unconscious and Trin had a busted lip along with some burn marks from the lasers and her bloody nose. That was the least of her worries, though.
"You got us both burned pretty good," Trin said to knocked out Betty Director. Her skin was scratched up with sizzling marks and one of her favorite outfits was in ruins. It was better than the alternative, she supposed. "I would thank you since I know you were here trying to help, but you ended up getting in the way. The thought does not count here." Not when she had laser burns.
Trin went into her pocket and pulled out a small yellow jar of what most might have mistaken as lip-gloss. It was actually balm and she smeared the almost clear goo on her burns, which were mostly on her arms. Betty sported more wounds than she had since the leader of GJ had not been trying to dodge the lasers. She had to open Betty's GJ uniform to get all of the burns.
"You've got the nerve to be hiding an impressive figure in these hideous clothes," Trin remarked as she inspected the older woman's wounds. She never would have guessed there were well-defined muscles and rather ample breasts under the dreary blue uniform.
She made sure she got each one of Betty's many injuries. She also took a moment to clean the cut she caused on Betty's cheek. She put a small bandage on that wound, as one could never be too safe, after all.
"All right, you rest here and by the time you wake up, everything should be back to normal and you won't even know what I just did," Trin said to the unconscious woman. Unless, of course, even though her brain was being manipulated, it still managed to hold onto this information.
The graduate student left Betty in what seemed to be a safe place to her since no traps went off. She was going to have to brave those lasers again, but she did not even think about that. She just wanted her family back.
-8-8-8-8-
Shin was not totally sure what he wanted to do with himself. Running and crying seemed like a very good idea. In fact, his brain ordered him to do that right now, which made sense. It actually ordered him to run and cry to his mother, though, which would not be possible. It beat the idea of what his enemies seemed to want him to do, namely fight against his mother, but it was the reason why the idea was not feasible.
How was he supposed to raise a hand to the woman who babied him throughout his life? She made sure he never wanted for anything. She was the woman who made him feel like he was the greatest thing since life was created.
His mother coddled him, even now, over every little thing. She knew when he needed a hug and was never opposed to giving him one. She never made him think for a moment she never wanted to have him despite the way he had been born. She almost never seemed disappointed in him, despite the things he did. She always made him feel loved and supported. He knew there was nothing in the world to fear as long as she was around. How in the hell was he supposed to fight her!
"Mommy, you're not yourself right now. Please, just move out of the way," Shin begged, hands pressed together and everything. He was prepared to drop to his knees to implore her to just get out of his way without a fighting having to occur. There was no way he could fight her and he knew that based on the way his body trembled, his teeth chattered, and his eyes were ready to pour out all of the liquid in his body for tears. He was scared to death he might actually have to touch his mother in a violent manner. He could never and would never forgive himself.
"I can't do that, Shin. I need to teach you a lesson, little man. I need you to stop being so bad," Tashawna replied with a bit of a growl.
"Mommy, don't," he pled, tears welling up already. It was his instinct to cry when she was upset with him, but it was also his instinct to cry to her when he was in trouble. There would be tears here no matter what.
Shin did not even know what to brace himself for. His mother had a number of different attacks she started out with. He had seen plenty of them in training. He hoped she was not packing a gun because shots certainly would be her first assault. He supposed it was a good sign she was abducted from home. She did not wear or even keep her guns in the house, nowhere he knew about anyway. It stemmed from a fear that when he was younger he would one day find one of her guns and shoot himself or a Possible child. It was probably a very valid fear.
Tashawna charged her son, which led him to believe she did not have a weapon on her. It was rare for her attack at close range at the start of a battle. He avoided a straight punch by jumping back, but she was not done yet.
"You know, you're a horrible son!" Tashawna screamed, practically frothing at the mouth already, which stopped Shin dead in his tracks.
Shin had never heard such words from his mother and the way she said it led him to believe she meant it for the moment. It was worse than being punched in the gut and caused him to cough, as if he had been physically struck. The sting in his eyes turned into a flood of tears and a few escaped his eyes.
He then reminded himself that she was under the influence of mind-control and emotional manipulation. She doesn't mean it. That turned his brain back on just in time for him to realize she threw something his way. Shin could not move in time and was caught in the shoulder by three small throwing knives.
"Damn it," Shin growled from the pain as the blades lodged themselves into his body. These better not be her poisoned knives or I'm screwed. It was a good sign the wounds did not throb and he did not feel lightheaded. A small blessing.
"I never should've had you," Tashawna stated firmly as she let some more knives fly. It sounded like her words were set in stone, which caused him to grimace. The words hurt more than the knives in his shoulder.
Shin managed to dodge those knives and had to jump back again as his mother came in for a close up attack. His instincts did not even order him to fight back. His fight-or-flight command was now stuck on "flight." All he could think about was how he needed to get away. He needed to get away from her hurtful words. Even if she did not mean them and she had no control over what she was saying, she was still his mother. His beloved mother, who he, occasionally, in very quiet moments, feared she regretted having him.
"You've been nothing but a disappointment to me," Tashawna said as she chased after the fleeing Shin, throwing all sorts of bladed projects at him as he bolted off. "You cost me my parents and family and then you have the nerve to turn out gay! How am I supposed to have a family now?!"
Shin tried humming to himself to block out her voice as he ran away. He did not want to hear any of that. He distracted himself from the fight, though. There was too much going on, his attention too divided. He ended up caught in the leg by one of his mother's throwing knives, too busy trying to block out her voice, her words, her disappointment, so he was not paying much attention to her weapons.
"Ah!" Shin cried out as the knife stuck into his calf. "Damn it." Glancing down, he hated to think he might need to pull that one out. The knife was too big to leave there and keep trying to flee. But, then he would need to close the wound and he definitely did not have time for that.
"You're nothing but a useless waste of flesh! You've taken my youth and you always want more! 'Gimme, gimme, gimme.' You're such a worthless, selfish brat! You never think of our family, only yourself! Never considered how you ruined our family, to the point your father doesn't even come home!" Tashawna yelled as if those words came from the heart.
Each sentence was like a dagger in Shin's heart. Had his mother had those thoughts at some point in her life? It seemed possible. She could have. Was she actually disappointed in him? Had he cost her everything, including a real relationship with his father? It was all so possible. He knew he had cost his mother her family, everyone disapproving of her decision to have him.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't curse your father for doing this to me, leaving you to me. I was a stupid child for having you," she continued. "You prove every day that you're nothing more than plague in my life. A pimple on my soul."
"Mommy, please, stop!" Shin implored her as tears crawled down his cheeks. The tears had nothing to do with the fact that he starting to resemble a pin cushion and covered in blood. Why did it have to be his mother? Anyone else, he might have been able to take, but not his mother.
I just need to run, Shin told himself. He needed to escape those words, he needed to escape her. He reminded himself that his mother was being controlled and manipulated, but it did not cure the marks on his heart. His brain and emotions refused to comprehend his mother did not have a choice in what she was saying. His feelings were being torn and shredded like chopped vegetables. He was on the verge of being physically ill, throat burning with rising bile.
He feared if things went on long enough, he was going to collapse to his knees. He would accept whatever punishment his mother saw fit to give him, which would be horrible. His mother would end up killing him under the influence of the mind control and when Kim and Shego came through, as he knew they would, his mother would go back to normal and be quite aware of what she did to her only child. He could not let her live with that.
"Okay, now is not the time to be a crybaby, Shin," he ordered himself as he thought about how his mother would feel if she killed him. His heart clenched for her. Well, to hell with that!
Shin refocused his mind and started paying enough attention to where he could dodge the throwing knives. He turned around to face his mother, knowing it would be best to keep her where he could see her. He needed to keep an eye on her anyway. After all, what if she got hurt in all the madness that was going on? Really? That's what you're telling yourself.
"Oh, you're going to turn around and be a man for once in your life? I thought you'd keep crying and running like the little coward you turned out to be. You have no idea how ashamed of you I am," Tashawna spat, her face twisted with fury. She almost did not even look like his mother, but a monster based on her features.
Yeah, I should think of her that way. This version of his mother was a boogieman. She was not his mother, but some monster who put on his mother's skin. Then, do right by your mother and save her from this monster.
"If that were true, you'd have said it to my face a long time ago, Mommy," Shin replied. Now, how do I go about saving her from herself? He considered maybe he could grapple with her and end up holding her up until someone figured out how to free her of the band's control. It was the best idea he could come up with, especially to make sure she did not hurt him anymore and she did not get hurt. Yeah, but who's going to make sure you don't get hurt… more so than you already are? He did not have an answer for that one, but it was not important. He was not important. His mother was.
Shin guessed his idea was easier in mind than in body and he was right. Trying to grab a hold of his mother was like trying to grab hold of a muddy eel. He also had to watch her with her knives, which he was certain she carried plenty of, even though he could not see them. Well, he could see the one she held in her hand anyway. She tried to stab and slash him several times through out the tangle. Where the hell is she hiding all these damn knives?
"This woman is freaking dangerous!" Shin shouted as he found himself on the defensive once again. If he even tried to touch her, he was pretty sure she would slit his wrists with the precision she wielded her knives. He could see why his father married her.
Shin did not give up his struggle. He continued to back off for a while before going in again, hoping to grab his mother. When he could not take hold of her, Tashawna put him back on the defensive while still screaming all kinds of insults about him, but he was finally able to block those out, his own thoughts filling his mind. I have to save her. I have to save her. I have to save her.
-8-8-8-8-
"The girl's on the move again," Bane reported to his two cohorts. He remained at the main console, watching the monitors. He did not trust either of his partners to do the task properly.
"How'd that vile woman make it passed all of those traps!" Drakken shouted as he threw his hands up to the ceiling a huff. He wanted to tear his hair out; that girl must have had more lives than a cat! "We have to do something!" They had to stop her!
"They're resourceful like demons. What's the status report on the two unknown elements in the compound?" Brotherson inquired.
"The men keep assuring me they can handle those two. It's just two women, they said," Bane replied.
"Yes, but they're probably two women who showed up with those two evil creatures. Keep me up to date with what's happening with them. Do we know where they're headed?" the obese man asked.
"Nothing so far. They're moving without a pattern from what the men can tell. They're not headed toward the pawns and they're not going to help those demons. So, we don't know what they're doing just yet."
"Fine, as long as they're not ruining the fun. Can you get a picture on that boy yet? He's probably in tears by now if our intelligence was correct." Brotherson did not doubt the facts he had helped Bane dig up, but some of the things he left to Bane alone and he discovered that was not the best idea he had ever had. He hoped the two-bit hood had not managed to screw something else up in his brilliant revenge.
"I'm trying, but nothing's coming up. We should send in the next pawn for the girl. She's getting a bit closer to her demise and we should probably open a few wounds before she gets there," Bane pointed out.
"True. And Doctor Drakken, try not to set off any more traps. We don't want to kill them yet," Brotherson told the cerulean scientist.
Drakken rolled his eyes. He was not there to play games with that demon girl. He wanted her gone, in the worst way, but also the quickest way possible, so he could get away from his present company and move on with his life.
-8-8-8-8-
Trin rounded a corner, thankful to have run out of the range of plenty of lasers. She was a bit tired now, having dodged so many light weapons. She pressed forward, moving mostly from memory. She could remember the map they had and she hoped that would carry her to her family. She also hoped she did not run into anyone else being controlled because she did not want to see who else they put those horrible wrist bands on, but her wish was not answered.
The graduate student made it to the end of the hall and saw one of the worst sights she could think of. Her eyes went wide, her stomach dropped, and her mouth was dry for a moment. The first thing she did was laugh because there was nothing else she could do. But, the laugh was weak, pathetic really.
"Not you too, baby," Trin said in a low, sorrowful tone as she stood face to face with Tatsu and the mechanic wore one of those thin wristbands.
"Prepare to die, bitch," Tatsu growled. Her mouth turned downward in a dangerous scowl and her eyes completely white, but still managed to hold all of the anger in the world and it was directed at Trin.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Shin still fighting his mom, Trin versus Tatsu, and Kim and Shego come across one last guest.