Authors Note: Thanks again to everyone who is reading and reviewing. It feels good to know that so many of you are enjoying this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
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"Knavery's plain face is never seen till used."
~Othello, ii, 1
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Kim had not seen either Ron or Camille after cheer practice. She was only interested in seeing one of them, however. After Camille's newest assault she was even more desperate to show Ron the truth. Her latest choice of words had been the most worrying of all. Clearly she had bad intentions for both her and Ron. And what she hinted at doing with Ron could utterly destroy him once he did learn the truth.
It was late in the afternoon now. Today, like many other days during the past week, was not spent hanging out with Ron after school. Most of his free time was now consumed by his "girlfriend". She wanted so desperately to go to her house and plead with him again. But she knew this would do her no good. Camille had him wrapped around her finger. She had made him oblivious to all the harm she had caused between the two best friends. Right now trying to convince Ron that she was the bad guy would only make things worse.
She sighed as she sat alone on the couch. Even Jim and Tim had places to go and people to see. Her parents were still at work. Right now she had the entire house to herself. It was such a lonely, empty feeling. She hated it. The only time she could remember feeling this way was when Ron and Felix became close friends. No wonder he suspected she was jealous. After the Felix and Yori incidents it made sense. Somehow Camille had been able to prey off of those two recent events and use them against her. Whether it was dumb luck or prior knowledge she wasn't sure. But one thing was for certain, the girl was clearly not nearly as stupid as she made herself out to be.
The Pals rerun just didn't seem appealing to her at the moment. She was just so bored. No one on the cheer squad had asked her to do anything and Monique was at work. It was times like these that she actually wanted to get called on a mission. At least then she would feel useful and appreciated. It would also help her get her mind off of the troubling issues she was having at school and with Ron. There was a common denominator to both, and that was Camille. She had to find some way to make everyone understand that. Even if she couldn't get the cheer squad back on her side she needed Ron back. It hurt her deeply that their friendship was beginning to fracture. It hurt worse to know that he was being manipulated and toyed with, and would ultimately wind up with a broken heart.
She couldn't contain her excitement when she heard her kimmunicator begin to beep. She had to force herself to calm down before she answered it. She didn't want Wade to think she was desperate or anything.
"What's the sitch?" she answered coolly.
"Kim, we have a definite sitch here," he said hesitantly.
A tiny smile curled on her lips.
"Really? What is it this time? Ambassador in danger? Nobel Prize winner kidnapped? Hollywood star in rehab?"
"It's… the Seniors."
Her face sank with disappointment. So much for something interesting.
"What are they up to this time?"
"That's just the thing. They aren't up to anything. It turns out they've been kidnapped."
She couldn't hide the look of surprise that crossed her face. Had she heard him right? The Seniors were the ones being kidnapped this time?
"What do you mean?"
Well…" he said as he began typing rapidly. "I got a hit last night. I thought it was a joke at first so I didn't look into it right away. But I just did now. Here's what I got."
Wade uploaded the video to the kimmunicator. As it began playing, Kim saw a figure standing close to the screen and another in the background. They were both bathed in red light. But even with the poor visual conditions she could tell that it was the Seniors. The elderly man began speaking.
"Kim Possible, what I am about to do spits in the face of every villain tradition I have ever learned, but I request your help."
The room of the lair began shaking. Junior whelped in fear. The unmistakable form of Shego had just entered. She began walking directly toward the old man.
"Dr. Drakken and Shego have attacked me. Please, I need help," he said before the transmission ended. The screen went blank for a moment before Wade's face reappeared on it.
Kim just looked at him for a moment without speaking. A thousand thoughts were rushing through her mind. Was it a trap? Was it genuine? What was really going on? She couldn't answer any of them. But what she did know is that her night just got a lot more interesting.
"So… what do you think?" Wade wondered.
She blew a few strands of hair away from her face as she thought about what their next move should be. A sly grin spread across her face. Her fiery spirit could not be contained here. She needed some action.
"We're going to make a visit to the doctor's office," she said confidently.
"Are you sure about this? What if it's a trap?"
"Then we'll be ready for it. Remember what Ron-"
She stopped mid-sentence before she finished reminiscing about Ron's "trap-trap" theory. But then a new thought came to her. Maybe this was just what they needed.
"Wade?"
"Yeah Kim?"
"Ron and me are going on this mission. I think this is just what we need to reconnect."
While he was sure that she was convinced that this was a good idea, he still wasn't.
"Okay… just be careful. Be ready for anything."
"I can do anything after all. And that includes being ready for anything."
"Alright. I'll set you up with a ride. It will be there in a half hour. Plenty of time to call Ron and get him over."
"Thanks Wade," she smiled.
"No problem."
Kim placed the device down on the table after the transmission had ended. She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket as she began walking to her room to change into her mission clothes. The number on her speed dial belonged to the guy who had been there since she had received this phone. There was no way she would let anything give her a reason to remove him.
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Ron put another potato chip in his mouth as he sat on the couch watching TV. He was not alone. Camille was sitting next to him. Like most days since they had become a couple, they had spent the afternoon hanging out together. At the moment they were enjoying a lazy Thursday together.
The rerun of Pals was heartwarming. It was one of those shows that people either loved or hated, there didn't seem to be an in-between. Ron was one of those who happened to love it. Glancing over at Camille he couldn't read what her thoughts on it were. She hadn't complained or changed the channel, nor had she laughed much at the funny parts. Sometimes she just confused him too much.
That thought reminded him of another confusing matter. He still had yet to meet the young woman's parents. Usually that was a standard dating procedure. He expected them to be even harder than normal because of who she was. But he hadn't seen or heard anything about them yet. Not even a car in their garage, or any kind of personal belongings in the house. It all seemed a bit off to him.
As the show took a commercial break, Camille turned to him.
"So Ron, what are we doing tonight?"
"Not sure. You're the one with the car."
Camille smiled. She loved having the power, even if the power was as simple as choosing what they did on a given evening.
"I was thinking about this club I know."
A frown crossed Ron's face as he looked down to the floor.
"A club? But we can't drink. I doubt we could even get in because we're not old enough."
"Please," she laughed. "Those people will let me go anywhere, give me anything. It comes with the fame."
He mentally conceded the point.
"I guess…" he said softly. "Still though what would we even do there?"
"Dance of course. Don't you like dancing?"
Those words seemed to perk him up.
"Oh yeah. The Ron-man is all about dancing. I've got awesome moves."
"Then I can't wait to see them. We'll go in a few hours when the crowd gets good."
He was about to agree when he heard his phone ring. He looked over to the table it was sitting on, but Camille had already grabbed it and checked the caller ID.
She looked down at it and had to work hard to suppress a scowl. Kim Possible. Of course it was her. Who else would actually be calling him? She set it down on the arm rest on the other side of the couch.
Ron looked at her quizzically when he saw her put it down away from both of them.
"Who was it?" he wondered.
"Oh, nobody."
"Nobody? What if it's someone important? Did it say a name?"
She smiled as she moved herself closer to him.
"Trust me Ron, they weren't more important than me."
He couldn't argue her point as she put her arms around him and brought herself close to kiss him. He then wrapped his own arms around her and the two made themselves comfortable on the couch. The phone rang again, but this time no one even bothered to look up.
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Kim leaned her head against the glass window of the small aircraft she was in. Glancing outside she saw the peaks of mountains beneath her. It wasn't right to be alone in such uncomfortable silence like she was. Normally Ron would be with her, the two of them chatting all the way to the drop point. But not this time. She sighed heavily.
She had called him not once, but twice. Neither time had he answered. Part of her didn't blame him. Camille had manipulated the situation to make her seem like the bad guy. All the fights, all the insults, all the drama, she had made it seem like Kim had started it. And seeing how the heiress was Ron's girlfriend, of course he would take her side.
A word from the pilot informed her that they were nearing the area over Drakken's lair. Questions were still swirling in hear head. Why had one villain kidnapped another? This just didn't make sense. She had to make sure she was extra careful every step of the way. She had no backup, human or mole rat. For a moment she wondered how difficult things would be without them. But then she immediately cast such thoughts from her mind. She was a Possible. And anything was possible for a Possible. Furthermore she was Kim Possible. And as her motto stated, she could do anything.
Steeling herself as she stood up, she slipped on a backpack that contained her parachute. She took a moment to clear her head. Dropping onto a mountain was dangerous. There could be no distractions or doubts.
The door opened and she took a deep breath as she looked down onto the snowy white surface of her drop zone.
"Bring it," she whispered to her inhuman foe.
She threw herself from the plane and free-fell for a few seconds before pulling the cord on her backpack. A bright red parachute opened up and her descent began to slow. It took another minute for her to finally hit the ground.
She cut the straps from her body and tossed the helmet aside. Grabbing her kimmunicator from her pocket, she saw that she wasn't too far from the point Wade had marked as an entrance. Well not so much an entrance, but it would be for her. Normal people didn't use the ventilation system.
So far so good. She had cut the grate of the ventilation duct and was crawling in the bowels of the lair. Super villains never seemed to learn that this is how she got in. They never put any kind of alarms or weapons in the HVAC shafts. It made her job a whole lot easier.
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Camille's eyes slowly opened. It took a few moments to realize she was looking at the ceiling. She suddenly sat upright and took in her surroundings. She was still at home, still on her couch. She must have fallen asleep. But she wasn't the only one. He was still here.
She stood up and took a few steps away from the couch and shook her head to try to clear the fatigue from her brain. He didn't move. He was still sleeping. Apparently the two of them had fallen asleep together on the couch. Memories came flooding back to her. Kim had called and she had distracted him from answering his phone. There was no way she was about to let up on her attacks. She wondered how long they had been out for. Looking over at a clock she realized that it had only been about an hour.
His phone was still sitting on the table. She reached over and grabbed it before she began looking though the call history. She found the two times that Kim had called him earlier today and deleted them. After all, she had told him that it wasn't anyone important. She couldn't have him trying to think for himself on the matter.
She set the phone back down and glared at him for a few seconds. Looking to the TV she saw that Agony County was on. A sigh escaped her lips as she sat back down on the couch.
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Drakken's Rocky Mountain lair was not an unfamiliar place to Kim. How many times had she and Ron broken in to destroy a doomsday device or recover an important piece of technology? Too many times to remember is what she figured. She didn't even need Wade anymore to tell her what was where in the lair. She could make her way through the halls avoiding the main control room and henchmen barracks. Right now her destination was the prisoner cells.
There had been no resistance. No red-clad henchmen to knock out, no automated laser cannons, and most importantly no Shego. It would really make her day if she could do this entire operation covertly. She paused on that thought as fate intervened.
One of the larger henchmen was passing through a hall ahead of hers as he munched on a donut. He had made it past her, but then stopped and took a step backwards. He was now looking right at her.
"Hey, you're not supposed to be here," he said rather obviously.
He didn't seem like a smart one. She could just hear it in his voice. Kim decided that she had nothing to lose.
"No…" she said hesitantly. "This is all a dream. I'm a figment of your sleeping mind. Ignore me. Keep going where you're going."
The henchman frowned and looked down at the donut in his hand before looking back at her.
"In my dreams the donuts have sprinkles. You're Kim Possible!"
He slammed a wall-mounted alarm button with his fist. Flashing lights and wailing sirens flooded her senses. She only had precious few seconds until the entire population of the lair would come chasing after her. She had to get the Seniors and get out as soon as possible.
But first thing was first, this henchman. She ran at him and launched a powerful kick at his midsection. He doubled over in pain, but someone of his stature could not be easily knocked off his feet. He recovered quickly and swung a large, meaty fist at her head. Her eyes widened and she ducked under it only milliseconds before it would have made contact. His hand slammed into the concrete wall earning a yelp of pain from him.
Kim locked her hands together and brought them down hard on the back of his head. He stumbled forward a few feet and turned around groggily to face her. She was waiting with a fist of her own, which she smashed into his head. This finally did it, and the man slumped over against the wall out cold.
She silently cursed as she realized how much time it had taken to defeat the loafing henchman. A few seconds in any normal situation wouldn't mean much. But when a dozen men and one very angry woman are looking for you a few seconds is everything. She began running to the cells once more, but was cut off by a trio of henchmen.
"I so don't have time for this," she growled to herself.
The men began running toward her and to their surprise, she did the same thing. One of the smaller men was the first to reach her, and she kicked him in the gut causing him to fall to his hands and knees. Seeing the perfect cheerleader base, she took a step back and made a running jump onto his back and did a handspring somersault over the remaining two men. They were too awe-struck by the unexpected move to try to grab her mid-air. By the time they recovered it was too late. She was already back to sprinting down the halls to where the Seniors were held captive.
When she finally reached her destination she saw that there were four more men running in her direction. Kim saw the panel mounted on the wall next to the entrance and hit the close button hard. The sturdy metal door slid shut, much to the dismay of the henchmen outside who began pounding on it. She took her laser lipstick and destroyed the panel, hoping that it would keep them out a bit longer.
She made her way over to the only two cells that were occupied, one by Senior and one by Junior. The two villains stood from their beds and went over to the bars. Senior was ecstatic.
"Kim Possible! You actually came for us?"
Kim gripped her laser lipstick and began cutting through the lock of the elderly man's cell. The progress was painfully slow.
"Yes, but we don't have time to chat. I need to get you two out of here."
A sound took her attention away from her work. It wasn't the fists of the henchmen pounding on the door anymore. This was an all too familiar sound. It was one of green energy slicing through solid steel. Time was running out fast.
"Bad news guys. We only have one way out of here, and it's up there," she said pointing to the ventilation shaft in the ceiling.
Senior began shaking his head grimly.
"Do not waste your time on me, Ms. Possible. I am far too old and frail to ever endure such an escape," he said noting the shaft. "Please rescue my son. He is all I have now."
Kim stopped and looked at him for a brief second when she heard this. Those words didn't sound anything like the super villain that she had come to know over the past two years. No, this was simply a father wanting what was best for his son. A parent who would sacrifice himself for the good of his child. But she wouldn't have any of it.
"No Senor Senior," she said sternly. "I don't leave anyone behind on a mission. Even if they are a super villain. I'll find a way to get you out too."
She resumed the work of cutting through his lock. But she lost her grip on the device when the billionaire suddenly raised his voice. She had never heard him get angry.
"I do not care about your mission protocol!" he yelled. "That is my son and you will rescue him! Now get him out of that cell and into that shaft! Do I make myself clear?"
His intense blue eyes locked with her own. Deep down she realized that he was right, but she just didn't want to admit it. She then looked at Junior. She saw a young man who was scared. Who knows what events must have unfolded to bring him into the clutches of Dr. Drakken. She had only seen a few seconds of footage from when their lair was under attack. And from what she saw it wasn't pretty. She sighed and recovered her laser lipstick.
"Fine. But you know I'm coming back for you, right?"
A tiny grin formed on the old man's face.
"I would expect no less from you, Kim Possible."
She began cutting through the lock of Junior's cell now. The voices outside were still shouting and the sound of Shego's claws against the door was getting stronger. Apparently the doors were made of something that was giving even her a difficult time cutting through. Kim figured that Drakken didn't want anyone to be able to escape easily, even his partner in crime.
It took close to a minute to free Junior from his cell. The door swung open and he rushed out, but soon realized that he had nowhere to go. That was where Kim came into play.
Usually Rufus was the MVP on a mission. The naked mole rat had a knack for finding the right button to press or wire to chew through. But this time it would have to be her laser lipstick. It came into play once more as she cut through the grate of the HVAC shaft with ease compared to the cell lock. She stuffed it back into her pocket before pulling out her grappling gun. She carried two kinds of head variants for the projectile. One was a claw which could grasp onto bars and knobs. The other resembled a spear which could dig into concrete and metal. She swapped the claw out for the spear and aimed the gun up into the shaft. She looked over at Junior and beckoned him to come closer.
"Grab on," she told him.
He did as he was told and wrapped one of his large arms around her waist. The gun fired up into the blackness of the shaft and made contact with something a few seconds later. Kim pulled the line to make sure it was secure before pressing the button to retract the cable and pull them up into the dark unknown.
Only moments later Shego finally broke the door down and rushed into the detention area. She roared with frustration when she saw the ventilation grate on the floor and an open cell door. But her attention was soon drawn to the laughter of Senor Senior. The elderly man was sitting on his bed chuckling darkly. She approached his cell and scowled at him.
"What's so funny?" she mocked. "You're still in here at our mercy."
Senior grinned at the woman as he stood up and walked over to the bars to look her straight in the eyes.
"My son escaped with her. It won't be long now until she knows everything that we know. And that includes everything involving your friend Camille Leon. Soon Kim Possible will defeat you like she always does."
Shego's fists clenched when she heard these words. She knew he was right. It would only be a matter of time until their mole was discovered. And then all of the hard work to break up Team Possible would be for nothing. She growled and swiped at the bars with a glowing claw. Senior didn't flinch. Instead he just continued smiling.
She turned and stormed out of the room, a mocking laughter following her all the way.
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Kim felt fortunate that Junior had been able to fit in the shaft. The way his upper body looked she wouldn't be surprised if he was on steroids. But that was another thought for another day. Right now she had to figure out why they Drakken had attacked them and why they had called her.
Once they had escaped the lair she had immediately called Wade and arranged a pickup. She was thankful that it didn't take long. The Rockies were chilly and she had not brought the proper clothes for an extended stay outdoors. At the moment they were flying back to Middleton in one of the local news helicopters. It was a favor that she couldn't even remember being owed, but she was glad to have it. She wondered how many other favors she had completely forgotten about, and wondered if Wade stored the names in some kind of database.
She looked over at Junior who was visibly worried. No doubt he was concerned for the safety of his father.
"How are you feeling, Junior?" she said with a soft smile.
His solemn eyes looked down to the floor.
"I feel terrible. Who knows what horrible things they will do to my father?"
Kim nodded in understanding. She didn't want to imagine what it would be like if her own father had been kidnapped by Drakken.
"That's something I need to ask you about. Why did Drakken attack your island? Why did he capture you and your dad?"
Junior took a deep breath before he looked up at his rescuer.
"It is because of Camille Leon," he said bitterly.
Her jaw dropped at the mention of the girl's name. The girl who had been a thorn in her side for the past two weeks, the girl who was taking Ron from her, the girl who was determined to destroy her life. How was she connected to the Seniors?
"Did you just say Camille Leon?"
"Yes."
"You're going to have to be way more specific than that."
Junior nodded.
"When you told us that someone had tried to frame father and me for the diamond heist we looked into it. We learned that Camille's family had been financially hurt by our attack on the Billionaire's Club last year. We also discovered that she had made a listing on Evil Craigslist."
Kim cut him off mid-sentence.
"I'm sorry, Evil Craigslist?" she frowned.
"Yes, it is a site where super villains ask for and offer services. Or they could just be ordinary people who want to get into the business. We discovered that Camille had an ad there offering some kind of unique talent."
"What's her unique talent?"
"Father and I believe it was some kind of… shape shifting I believe is the term."
Kim swallowed hard. It all made sense. Finally, something in her life made sense. Why hadn't she thought of this before? She stopped herself on that thought as soon as it entered her mind. Of course she wouldn't have thought of that. What kind of sane person actually believes in shape shifting? That's the kind of thing you see in comic books and bad movies based on comic books. It was perfectly reasonable for her not to even suspect that sort of thing. She had suspected clones and robots, but never a shape shifter.
A tiny laugh escaped her lips as she realized how incredibly dumb that sounded. Clones and high-level artificial intelligent robots were okay but shape shifters weren't? She suddenly felt like such a fool. In her line of work she should expect the unexpected. She should suspect the unusual or unrealistic. She had tangled with living snowmen and entered TV shows after all. This latest development seemed mundane compared to those two incidents.
She thought about what this meant. The person who posed as her at the museum, it was Camille. The person who had posed as Bonnie, Camille again. Who knows who else's image she had stolen, who knows how many other times she had tricked people into believing she was someone she was not. But it had to end now. She had to reveal the heiress for who she really was. And more importantly, she had to save Ron from her.
Junior noticed the laugh and looked at her curiously.
"What is so funny?" he wondered.
A smile formed on Kim's face. She hadn't smiled like this since Camille and Ron had started dating. A battle of emotions was raging inside her right now. On one hand she knew the full extent of the danger that she and Ron were facing now. On the other hand she knew the truth about the danger and could now use it against the blonde.
"Because I just feel so relieved," she told him. "You have no idea how much this Camille issue has been bothering me. She's been out to get me and destroy my friendship with Ron for days. And now I finally know why. Thank you, Junior."
Junior had never seen this side of Kim before. Her warm smile and heart-felt words were not something she shared with him during her missions to stop his father and him.
"Does this mean you will rescue my father from Dr. Drakken?"
The smile suddenly vanished from her face. She shot him a determined look.
"Yes Junior. Whatever they're up to, they have to be stopped. Drakken, Shego, and that blonde bimbo are all going down. They've made this way personal for both of us."
A wave of relief passed over the young man.
"I knew I could count on you. You are the blue fox after all. You are determined and will not stop until the job is done."
"Oh right, animology…" she laughed. "You were the yellow trout right?"
"Yes!" he said excitedly. "The book said that we are meant to be. But father would have none of it. He said it spat on villain tradition and disposed of the book."
"It's for the best. That stuff is a load of garbage anyway."
"But how else are you supposed to know who you are supposed to be with?"
Kim chuckled and shook her head slightly.
"You must not get off that island a lot. You're supposed to go out and date. Find people with common interests, see if there's any chemistry, all that good stuff. You can't rely on a book or anything to tell you who you should be with."
She noticed that his shoulders had slumped a little. He looked a bit deflated. Had her answer had that much of an effect on him?
"I suppose you may be right…" he trailed off.
Yup, it definitely wasn't the answer he was looking for. She would have to do her best to cheer him up.
"But look on the bright side," she smiled. "You have a lot going for you. You're young, rich, good looking… there are tons of girl who would be into a guy like you. You just have to go out and find them."
Those words seemed to perk him up a bit. At least he looked a bit happier. She couldn't tell what was going on in his mind though. But she did notice that he had referred to her as a blue fox a few times for the remainder of the flight.
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It was late by the time she had gotten home. She had felt obligated to wait with Junior while he called a taxi to take him to a hotel. Once the car had arrived he commented on how ugly its color was. He obviously wasn't used to public transportation. But it was his only available option right now. He didn't have a lair to go back to.
But now she had to get down to business. This new threat was closer to home than any other she had ever faced in her life. Camille had infiltrated her school, her hobbies, and her most personal relationships. First thing was first. She had to warn Ron.
She dug her kimmunicator from her pocket and contacted Wade. Unfortunately it was so late that the boy was already asleep. She saw on the screen that he was in bed and rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"What's up Kim," he answered sleepily.
"Wade, we have a major sitch here. Like, sitch of the century."
Those words seemed to help wake him up. His eyes were forced open and he was fully alert.
"What is it?"
"Camille Leon is the person we've been looking for all along. It's not a robot or clone. She can shape shift or something weird like that."
The young genius took a moment to consider what he had just heard. Eventually he nodded in agreement.
"That does make sense. After all, all of this weird stuff started happening the first day she showed up at your school."
"Right," she agreed. "She's posed as me, Junior, Bonnie, and who knows how many others. And she's working with Drakken and Shego. So we know they're up to no good."
"Okay. What's our first move?"
"The first thing we do is get Ron back. He needs to know the truth about his… 'girlfriend'," she said disgustedly.
"Have you tried calling him?"
"Yes, even before I went on the mission. He's not answering."
"So what are we going to do?"
"It means I'm going to have to go to his house and tell him in person."
"I don't think his parents will like you coming over this late."
Kim grinned at the screen. She loved the feeling of having a plan that not even a super genius could guess.
"That's what's so good about being an acrobatic cheerleader, Wade," she said confidently. "I don't plan on going to his front door."
"Then what?"
"His bedroom window of course."
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She had felt so smug when she had spoken those words to Wade. She had thought she was so smart, so creative, so prepared. But unfortunately for her all of those feelings had now disappeared.
She stood alone in her best friend's bedroom. The lights were off and his bed was unoccupied. She didn't get it. Where could he be?
One thing she didn't want to do was go looking through his house to see if he was just getting a late night snack. It wouldn't be a good thing if his parents discovered her. Of course they trusted her, they even loved her like a daughter that they didn't have. But the idea of someone breaking into your home was unappealing no matter who it was. She would have to contact Wade again.
She leapt down from his second story window and landed in a neat crouch. She stood up and whipped her kimmunicator out once more.
"Wade, we've run into a problem," she told him.
"What's wrong?"
"He's not here."
"He's what?"
"He's not in his room. And I'm not about to go sneaking through his house to see if he's in another room."
"Oh. Yeah, that sounds kinda bad. When was the last time you talked to him?"
"Earlier at school. We kind of had a little… um, fight."
"About what?"
"About Camille freakin' Leon," she spat. "That little witch has him wrapped completely around her finger."
Wade couldn't hide the look of displeasure on his face after learning all about who the celebrity really was.
"So I guess he probably won't be taking your calls," he concluded.
"Right. So I need you to track him down."
He knew what that meant. He would be locating him with the tracking chip that only the two of them were aware of.
"Alright. Hold on while I bring up his location on GPS."
Kim saw him turn to his computer and began typing away furiously. She wondered how many words he typed per minute. The boy's fingers moved so fast that she couldn't follow them. If he ever decided to take a break from his genius thing he could make an excellent secretary.
A few moments later his face was replaced with a digital map of Middleton. The screen scrolled until a bright red dot was seen blinking on it. That dot was Ron. According to the street names the appeared on the screen he was in downtown Middleton. What could he be doing there at an hour like this?
The screen divided into two halves as Wade reappeared on the top and the map was shrunk to the bottom.
"Where exactly is he?" Kim asked.
"According to the address he's at…"
Kim noticed his hesitation. Hesitation from Wade was never a good thing.
"What is it?"
"Kim, he's at a nightclub."
She could feel her teeth grinding when she realized what this meant. There was no way Ron would go to a nightclub on his own, on a school night, at this time of night. In fact there was no way he would even be let into one, he was only seventeen. The name that she just hated to hear came into her thoughts once more.
"He's with Camille," she said matter of factly.
Wade nodded in agreement. It was the only logical explanation, though these days it seemed as if logical explanations were becoming ever more illogical. But it was all they had to go on at the moment. His gut told him they were right though.
"What's the plan then? Do we go in and rescue him?"
Kim shook off the idea.
"The last thing we need right now is to show up in the middle of the night and crash his… date…" she struggled to say. "And then there would be the matter of explaining to him how we found him. I hated having to lie to him about the tracking chip. But I just don't know how to even begin telling him that we put one in him without his knowledge."
"Then we wait until he gets home?"
"No, I can't be out much longer. I'm going to talk to him tomorrow at school where I can get him alone."
Wade knew she was right. But he hated having to sit and wait for the moment to arrive. And he knew that she felt the same way. However they had to approach this the right way. It was a delicate matter after all.
"I'll keep you informed tomorrow morning at school," she told him.
"Alright Kim. Just try to get some sleep for now. We need you to have a clear head tomorrow for this whole mess."
"Right. Good night."
She shut off the device and put it back in her pocket. She had some time to think about everything she had learned in the past few hours during her walk home. No villain had ever made this as personal as Drakken had this time. She had to remember that. This wasn't just Camille. It wasn't just some high school plot she was trying to foil. Drakken had stolen a diamond. Drakken had destroyed the Senior's island and kidnapped them. She had to learn what the full extent of his plan was. And the first step to uncovering it was by getting information out of her newest high school nemesis.
Unfortunately sleep did not come easily for her. She laid in bed for several hours that night. She was wide awake from the stress and worrying that was consuming her.
XXXXXXXXXX
Camille was in one of the girl's restrooms before school started Friday morning. She was carefully touching up some of the makeup she had already applied earlier at home. She looked into the mirror and thought about how well the blue eye shadow made her own icy blue eyes look. She put the small case and brush back into her purse and took out some light pink lipstick. After a few seconds she puckered her lips and admired her work. She hadn't even heard the other girl enter.
A hand gripped the front of her shirt tightly and she was slammed forcefully against a wall. Her lipstick tube and purse crashed on the bathroom floor. She wanted to scream, but a second hand covered her mouth. Her eyes went wide in fear as she saw who her attacker was. Honestly it was the last person she would have expected.
Kim did not look pleased. Emerald orbs stared into her with pure hatred. Camille began to struggle to try to get free, but the iron grip of the teen heroine would not let go. Kim was supposed to be one of the good guys. Good guys didn't go around manhandling innocent civilians. Unless…
Finally Kim spoke.
"I'm done playing games with you," she snarled. "And I'm tired of all the lies and manipulation. You've made this more personal than you can possibly imagine."
The normally calm and collected Camille was struggling to speak. She was always in control. She was always the aggressor. To be in this position was something she was not used to. She felt weak and helpless. But she did her best to reply to the enraged redhead.
"What are you talking about?" she asked softly. "Have you finally snapped?"
"I said I'm done playing games!" Kim said as she tightened her grip on Camille's shirt. "You know very well what I'm talking about."
"If this is about Ron you seriously need help. Stop being jealous because I'm his-"
Kim cut her off before she could say the word that might send her over the edge.
"You're using him to get to me and you know it!"
"I don't know what you're-"
"Stop lying!"
The anger in Kim's voice was very real. So was the fear in Camille's heart. She knew that she couldn't lie her way out of this situation. Kim was fuming. She must have discovered the truth. There was only one way out of this.
"Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Kim's eyes widened in surprise and she instantly let go of Camille's shirt. She instinctively took a step backwards. It took only a few seconds for a few other girls to come in the bathroom. Unfortunately for Kim a pair of cheerleaders was among them.
"What's going on?" Jessica asked.
Tears began welling in Camille's eyes. She ran and hid behind the newly arrived girls.
"Kim… Kim attacked me!" she said fearfully. For once she wasn't lying.
The girls looked and saw Camille's possessions on the floor. They saw Camille's shirt and knew it wasn't supposed to look like it did. But the most compelling piece of evidence was the guilty look on Kim's face.
"Kim?" Hope asked in an almost scared tone. She didn't want to believe the accusation.
"It's… it's not what it looks like…" was all Kim could come up with.
"You have serious problems!" Camille cried.
"Don't believe a word she says," Kim warned the other girls. "She's been manipulating and lying to everyone to make me look like the bad guy."
"Are you okay Camille?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah, just a bit shaken up…" the other blonde said softly.
"I don't have time for this. Has anyone seen Ron?" Kim asked the group.
None of the girls answered. They either didn't know where he was or didn't feel like talking to her at the moment.
"Alright, thanks anyway."
Kim left the bathroom quickly. She had to find Ron and tell him the truth about Camille. But as she looked at one of the clocks she realized he could be anywhere. Usually he didn't go to his locker to get his books until around ten minutes before his first class started. But she knew he was here. They hadn't walked to school together, so he must have gotten a ride from Camille.
Camille thanked the girls for their help as she too left in a hurry. She reached into her purse and took out a small envelope. It was a gift from Shego. She thought about how much of a freak the older woman was. She called her almost every other day demanding to know how the plan was going. Why did she even care anyway? She was a sidekick. Drakken was the one with the plan.
And then she had given her this note to be the coup de grace. She would have liked to have waited a bit longer before using it, but she had no choice. Kim obviously knew the truth about her. Action had to be taken now. Their separation had to become permanent.
She went to Ron's locker and slipped the envelope through one of the thin slits at the top. Now all she had to do was wait.
XXXXXXXXXX
Right on schedule.
Kim saw Ron standing at his locker with about ten minutes until they had Latin class together. She ran down the hall so they would have as much time as possible to talk. As she grew nearer she saw that he was reading a piece of paper. His face was a mask of confusion and sorrow. She wondered if it was another bad Latin test. She would be sure to joke about it later.
"Ron!" she said as she neared him. "Ron I need to tell you something very important and I need you to trust and believe me."
He lowered the piece of paper and looked at her.
"Is this true?" he asked cryptically.
"What?"
"Is what this says true?"
He handed her the piece of paper. She took it and read it. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Kim and Wade put a tracking chip inside you…" she whispered to herself.
She looked up at him and noticed the very serious expression on his face. All thoughts of joking about his Latin test instantly vanished from her mind. She felt a horrible feeling of anxiety building up inside her.
"Ron I need to tell you something," she repeated.
"Is it true?" he asked again.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. She had to tell him the truth.
"Yes Ron, it's true. But I can explain."
"You and Wade have been tracking me? How long ago did you do this? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Look Ron that's not important right now. I found out last night that Camille is working for Drakken."
A cruel, almost mocking laugh came out of his mouth. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"You call my girlfriend names. You put a freakin' tracking chip in me. And to top it all off, you tell me that my girlfriend is working with a super villain?"
"I know how bad this must sound, and I know how much you must think I'm lying, but-"
"There is no satellite is there," he said accusingly.
"No Ron," she admitted. "There's no satellite."
He leaned against his locker and rested his head against it.
"I can't believe this…" he sighed. "How could you do this to me?"
"Look Ron, the chip really isn't important right now. We have to do something about Camille."
"No Kim, I don't need to do anything. You have some serious jealousy issues. Jill was right. This is all about power and control. The tracking chip just proves that you want to know what I'm doing and where I am at all times."
"No, the tracking chip was to make sure that you're safe. You have a habit of getting into trouble."
"Yeah whatever. It still doesn't change the fact that you're totally jealous of Camille. I can't believe you would stoop this low, that you would actually call her a super villain."
Neither of the teens had noticed that Monique was next to them. She had been standing there for several seconds not saying a word, just listening to the conversation that she had come in the middle of. She was trying to piece together what was going on.
"That's because she is a super villain, Ron!" Kim said angrily. "She's some kind of freaky shape shifter or something. She's the one who posed as me on the mission, and as Junior and Bonnie too."
"Are you even listening to yourself? You sound like a conspiracy nut."
"I can prove it. I can prove Camille is an evil liar."
"I'm a what now?"
The three turned to see Camille walking toward them. When she reached Ron's side she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss.
Monique saw Kim's clenched fists and moved in front of her friend.
"Calm down Kim, she isn't worth it. Don't get expelled over her."
"I wouldn't put it past her," Camille commented. "This… Amazon grabbed me earlier in the bathroom and started yelling at me."
Ron glared at his best friend when he heard this.
"I think we need to take a break," he said sternly. "After all this plus lying about the tracking chip I just can't be around you right now. We both need time to clear our heads."
"Don't you see Ron? Look what she's doing to us. She's tearing us apart."
"No Kim. You've done that all by yourself."
He and Camille turned and walked away from Kim and Monique. They stood there in silence for a few seconds before Monique turned to face her friend.
"You're going to have to tell me everything later."
Kim couldn't bring herself to speak right now. She merely nodded.
"And who's this Jill girl he's mentioned twice now?" Monique added.
She shrugged. Whoever Jill was, she wasn't important right now.