Graduation chapter 2
Paring: Kigo.
Warning: this story contains yuri/lesbian elements. Don't like, don't read.
Kim Possible and all releated characters are property of the original creator, not me. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is for fun, not profit.
Kim stands in front of the mirror, smoothing down the front of her clothes, before turning around to check the back, moving slowly, taking extra care not to crease the black gown. She doesn't want to ruin it. She wants it to look perfect for the ceremony. Despite the fact that she still thinks that she looks a bit silly in it, really. Especially when she slips the mortar board on her head. It's not something she is used to wearing. Plus she keeps feeling that it is about to slip off her head every step makes it even more uncomfortable. She has to fight the urge to grab out for it.
"I look ridiculous, don't I?"
Turning her attention away from the book she reading, Shego looks up from her comfortable sprawl on the bed. "You look perfect, Princess. Trust me. And you will on the night, too."
Taking the gown off again and hanging it up neatly in her wardrobe, Kim drops down onto the bed next to her, wrapping her arms around her lover..
"You think so?"
"I know so."
Lowardian Fleet, orbiting Saturn
It has been almost a month since Warmonga recovered the mysterious Great Blue and still the box lies in the hanger, as inert as the day it absorbed Drakken.
For the first few days afterwards, a constant stream of Lowardians had been pilling in to see it, eagerly awaiting something happening. But now, that initial interest is waning and the crew are starting to question if something has gone wrong. Some are even asking whether this thing is even really the Great Blue.
Despite his aggressive action to quash that rebellious talk, secretly Warhok has his doubts. With so much knowledge about the great blue lost, he is starting to wonder if there is something else that should have been done. Maybe the pulsing symbols on the surface of the box are trying to tell him something. Something that he should have done. Or is supposed to be doing.
"My people are growing impatient. They have been expecting the magnificent Lowardian conquest to begin again, exactly as the legends tell. My people dream of glory. They dream of great victories, of the arm of the Lowardian Empire stretching across the galaxy."
He pauses, as he notices Warmonga standing in the door of his quarters. He must have missed the sound of it opening.
"You do know that you are talking to yourself, right?"
Before he can reply the shrill tone of an incoming inter-ship communication cuts him off.
The voice sounds terrified and awed at the same time.
"My lord Warhok, the great blue. Something is happening."
Not waiting to hear the rest, Warhok tears out of his darkened quarters, hurrying to the hanger, Warmonga close behind him.
As he steps inside, he sees that the great blue is vibrating, the boxy shape giving off an eerie hum. As the collected Lowardian's look on, it rises up, the surface seeming to ripple and shimmer.
Then the whole thing almost liquefies, the metal contracting and shrinking until it forms a humanoid form. Its head a dome of smooth, unblemished metal, with two deep black wells for eyes. The rest of its body is equally smooth and unremarkable, expect for the brilliant blue sheen of its armour.
The cold dark eyes scan over the hanger, the blue beam of light that springs forward from them tracking over the walls and floor. The beam dies and the great blue advances towards the hatch that leads out to the rest of the ship. The assembled crowd scrambles to get out of its way, pushing and shoving each other in their haste. Warhok thrusts out a hand to grab it, to make it stop.
"What is your purpose? What do you intend to do? Listen to me. You are the Great Blue. I am the Lowardian Commander. You will obey me."
Then pulls it back with a hiss of pain. The skin on his palm is blackened and burned.
The Great Blue turns it eyes towards him, boring into him. It speaks with a voice that is both Drakken's and not, at the same time. It has the same tone and inflection, but with a harsh metallic edge to it.
"Correct. I am the Great Blue. You are the Lowardian Commander. But make no mistake. YOU will obey me."
Warhok can barely speak. But he manages somehow.
"This is not right. The legends speak of you aiding the Lowardian people to great conquests."
"What you speak of did indeed come to pass. Except, I did not aid your people. I lead them. Your people were primitive race. Possessing great strength, yes. But little more than savages. Looking for leadership. I see that nothing much has changed. But once again, I will take them to the farthest starts, with or without you."
As if this conversation hadn't even happened, the great blue continued onwards, methodically marching onwards towards the storage area for the damaged Lowardian mechs.
Moving towards the centre of the room, more on the tentacles that had secured Drakken spring forth, plunging into the hulls of the wrecks. The hulls seem to writhe, as if something alive is crawling beneath them. Then Before the astonished eyes of the onlookers, the machines slowly rise, turning and lining up in regimented rows, the rumble of their engines filling the air.
Even the oldest, most corroded and rusted now look brand new, their hulls the same lustrous blue as the Great Blue.
Over the next few hours, the Great Blue moves slowly, methodically through the ships of the Lowardian fleet, activating long abandoned machinery that had lain dormant for years uncounted. The small collection of assault vehicles is only the tip of the iceberg. Huge towering drop ships, capable of transporting hundreds of troops, are awakening. Now that all of the weapons have been reactivated, the Great Blue has taken over the bridge of Warhok's ship, its tendrils plugged into every console. From here, it begins issuing orders to the rest of the fleet, which are obeyed without question. Orders issuing landing coordinates and objects when they get there. Warhok stares in wonder at the map the great blue is projecting, at the red points that indicate landing positions on the surface of the tiny blue planet.
Middleton High
Kim is nervous, fiddling with the sash of her robe just to have something to do with her hands. Stop it. She tells herself. Just relax. But she can't. It's not the ceremony that is making her nervous, or even the prospect of the speech she has to give. Those things she can handle. No. It's that after tonight, everything will change. She glances up at the stands that surround football field, that are usually full of cheering supporters, to the collection of seats where her family is watching, her mother, her father, her two brothers, even her grandmother had made it down here. And seated in the middle of them, is Shego, her mother's arm wrapped around her shoulder. Even from here she can see the proud looks of her family, along with Shego's comforting gaze.
Not wanting to stare too much, in case it distracts her, she swings her gaze away from them quickly, then just as quickly drags it back to the top of the stands. Just for a second, she thought she saw.. No, she couldn't have. It must have been her imagination.
In the collection of tunnels and vents that run under the playing field, a group of figures wait, shrouded in the shadows. Two of them are standing apart from the rest, clearly having a heated discussion.
"Why didn't you go down and see her? That's why we came, isn't it."
The second figure hesitates for a heartbeat, then sighs. "It's not that easy. I knew it would be hard, but not this hard. I hurt her, you know. I really did. I just can't walk up to her and say 'Hi, KP. How's things?' like I used to. Anyway, we could be worrying her over nothing. These..feelings, could they be wrong? I mean, has he ever made a mistake about something like this?"
"Yes. The warnings are not always that clear. Sometimes they have been misread. But not this time. Danger surrounds Kim Possible. And we must be here when it happens."
Back in the stands, Shego watches as Kim takes to the stage. She really does look beautiful, whatever doubts she may have about that.
As Kim starts her speech, Shego doesn't really take in the words, so much as their meaning. The promise of new beginnings. Of moving away from the familiar, the comforting, even from things that have been outgrown. And taking the first steps towards the unknown, the challenges that lie ahead. In short, the future.
Global Justice Headquarters
Another person that the future is of great concern too is Dr Director, specifically the future that relates to the Lowardian Fleet that is currently still in orbit around Saturn. How long it will remain there, she has no idea. But at least they will have plenty of warning when they do finally attack. The Lowardians have yet to notice the small satellite that has been observing them since they arrived.
Meanwhile all they can do is prepare as best they can. All of the world's major governments have been informed, and they are all drawing up response scenarios and contingency plans. Just a lot of paperwork really, but they are a first step to countering a Lowardian invasion.
Speaking of paperwork, Dr Director turns back to her desk and the pile of A4 sheets that sit there. She sighs. She had better get down to it.
Suddenly all the lights go out, leaving her in pitch blackness for about thirty seconds, before the room is bathed in the pale red emergency lighting.
A power cut, is her first thought, until she turns around and sees what is hovering outside the window of her office, a few hundred metres away from the building. A Lowardian spaceship.
How the hell did that get here? The probe should have alerted the observation team if any ship left the cluster. That is the thought running through her head as she sprints to the control room.
Backup power has kicked in here as well. But all of the systems are still running. If GJ loses power from the main grid, it's onsite generator starts up, all of the power being directed to the control room. With the computers there still working, they can distribute that power where they need it manually. And right now, that means the hangers.
Standing in the centre of the room, Agent Du is already giving those orders. An attack on HQ had been foreseen and prepared for.
Without having to even glance at a monitor, Dr Director knows that crews in the hanger will be scrambling to get the tanks deployed. These vehicles based on Lowardian technology should prove a good defence, one that they aren't expecting.
In front of the building, the hanger doors rise, the five tanks advancing to circle the alien ship.
They don't bother with any warnings, Global Justice has the authority to take whatever measures are deemed necessary to protect itself if attacked. And the Lowardians aren't protected by earth law anyway.
On Dr Director's order, they open fire. Not the capture rounds they had used during the test, but live ammunition. The shells impact into the hull, rocking the whole ship with the force of the explosions. But it manages to stay in the air.
Then a humanoid shape drops down to the ground, landing in a crouch. Dr Director barely has the time to register the bright blue of its skin, when it leaps onto the roof of the closest tank, tendrils springing forward from its arms, penetrating the hull like it isn't even there.
The tanks engine splutters, then dies. All of the agents in the control room watch helplessly as the same thing happens to the rest. Then the lights in the control room flicker.
"What's happening? Are we losing power?"
One of the agents answers, trying to coax some answers from his malfunctioning terminal. "Something's trying to hack our systems."
"Well, block it"
"I can't. It's coming in through the commlinks from the tanks. It's already inside the firewalls, infecting everything. We've already lost communications and most of the computer control. And the rest should fail..."
All of the computer screens suddenly go dead. "Now."
"Okay, people. The whole base is compromised. As of right now, I'm ordering an evacuation."
As they turn to leave, the computer screens spring back to life, every one of them flickering as strange alien characters scroll across the displays.
Before Dr Director and the rest of the agents can even make it half way to the exit, the heavy steel bulkhead crashes down cutting of their escape, as the whole of the base goes into lockdown. They are now trapped in here with the Lowardians.
Middleton High
Shego is the first to reach Kim as she breaks out of the crowd of students, pulling her into a gentle hug, careful not to crush the diploma clutched lightly in her right hand.
"See, I told you look beautiful."
Kim gives Shego a warm, grateful smile, as she steps back, letting her parents and grandmother step in, each one of them hugging Kim in turn.
Her brother's hang back, apparently unimpressed by all this mushy stuff. They do offer her a quick thumbs up when no-one is looking. Their own way of saying congratulations.
Slowly, chatting amongst themselves, the group heads back to the school's car park.
Here they split up, Shego riding in Kim's car, the rest of the Possible's taking James's.
Kim unlocks the doors, dumps her mortar board and gown in the boot, leaving her dressed in the light blue strapless dress she had been wearing underneath. Slipping the necklace of matching blue stones around her neck, she climbs into the driver's seat, starting up the engine and pulling out onto the street.
Shego scans the car park of the restaurant as Kim pulls into a space just outside the front doors. She doesn't recognise any of the cars parked around them, so she guesses that they must have beaten the others here. Stepping out, Shego crosses to the other side of the car, opening the driver's side door and holding her arm out to Kim.
With a smile, Kim takes it, linking her arm through Shego's as she allows her to lead her towards the restaurant.
Shego looks as stunning to her, as she hopes she does to Shego. She has chosen a dress of deep red, held up by a single strap over one shoulder. Shego's is a little bit shorter than Kim's as well, stopping just below her knees.
As they approach the doors, Kim glances up at the sign over their heads.
"Chez Cruteaux. I'm amazed we managed to get a reservation. Without having to ask Wade to 'tweak' the waiting list."
Shego's face breaks into a sly smile, obviously impressed, "Kimmie, I didn't think you'd try something underhanded."
"I didn't. That was Ron's idea."
Shego scowls at the mention of that name. "Really? And just how did he manage to pay for all of this?"
Shego sweeps her arm over the restaurant's lavish interior just visable through the frosted glass, the neatly dressed staff moving smoothly from one table to another, discreetly checking on the guests.
Kim starts to feel a little embarrassed as she recalls that particular evening.
"Well, he didn't. Not exactly. See, he had these coupons, kids eat for free, that kind of thing, so.."
Shego's stares at her disbelievingly, "You mean he took you on a date, to the finest restaurant in Middleton, and the best he could offer you was a free kid's meal?"
"Well, sort of."
"Huh, forget about those coupons, Princess. Tonight, you're getting the full experience."
As soon as they step through the doors, they are greeted by the maitre d', who personally escorts them to their table.
He moves to pull Kim's chair out, but Shego politely waves him off, sliding it back herself so that Kim can stand in front of it, then pushing it back towards the table as Kim sits down.
By the time Shego takes her seat, Kim has picked up her menu and is already flicking through it.
Shego can't help smiling at the expression on Kim's face as she takes a glance at the prices.
Then she looks up as the rest of the party arrives, allowing the staff to seat them in the way that Shego had declined.
Kim looks over at her parents, "You know, I forgot how pricey this place is."
"Don't worry about that, Kimmie. We're treating you tonight, remember."
Her dad nods in agreement, "Your mother's right. This is a special day, so just enjoy it."
Their waiter returned then, a tray of rolls in one hand, and Kim picked up her menu again.
She had just opened her mouth to speak, when everything went crazy.
The silence of the restaurant was shattered by the violent sound of breaking glass, along with the screams of several of the customers. Both Kim and Shego swung their heads around at the same time, to stare at the remains of the thick glass doors, and the three muscular, armoured figures smashing their way through, glass shards crunching under their heavy boots.
The one at the front traces his eyes slowly over the interior of this strange building, ignoring the terrified stares of the pathetic pink skins. He looks back over his shoulder at his companions, uttering something guttural in a language clearly not of this planet.
As he looks forward again, he just manages to glimpse movement out of the corner of his eye, before something smashes into his head.
Kim flips backwards, landing in a crouch, as the figure reels back from the impact of her flying kick. He doesn't stay that way for anywhere near as long as she'd like. Shaking his head, he throws it back, releasing an ear-splitting bellow.
Shego runs to Kim's side, expecting another attack based on that cry of anger, bracing herself to counter it.
Her confidant smirk fades as more of the armoured aliens enter lining up with their fellows. Not one or two or three. Now they are facing fifteen of them.
"I think we're in trouble, Princess. Get your family out of here. I'll hold them off."
"I can't just leave you to.."
"You're not leaving me. You're going first. I'll be right behind you. You should find another way out through the kitchens. Now, go."
Shego emphasises her point by shoving Kim back towards the table, only to see another group of the aliens emerge from the kitchen.
Cursing, Shego and Kim move back to back, ready to take out anyone that gets too close. Shego igniting her plasma around her balled fists. Maybe they can clear a way out.
Suddenly four small silver spheres drop from the ceiling and the whole room is filled with a blinding flash. Kim squeezes her eyes shut to protect them, but she can still see the light through her eye lids. When she opens her eyes, the room is full of blurry black shapes arrayed between Kim, Shego and their attackers. Silently, they charge, drawing a variety of weapons ranging from swords to knives to nun-chuks.
The whole battle is oddly silent, at least on the part of the new arrivals. They seem not be making a single sound, not even when one of their attacks hit home. Some effect of those flash bangs, she guesses.
Expect she can still hear the noises that the Lowardian's make. The grunts as they take blows to their bodies, or the violently brief screams as a blade finds it's mark.
Kim and Shego slowly advance of their black clad saviours, as the last Lowardian falls to the ground and doesn't get up again.
One of the attackers pulls his sword free of the body it impaled, before turning towards the two women.
The figure steps forward, a little hesitantly, before pulling back his hood.
"Err, hi K.P. How's things?"
Kim can't help staring, torn between surprise, joy and a sadness that she thought she had moved past.
"Ron? What are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you. I know that's a bit of switch, but hey, it had to happen sometime."
"No, I meant, how did you get here? How did you even know I was here?"
"We've been following you for a few days now."
Ron grinned sheepishly, as if he is embarrassed by that, or as if trying to reassure Kim.
"One person that isn't reassured or placated is Shego, if the hard tone of her voice is anything to go by.
"So, what? You've used your skills to become a stalker, now? I thought you were through with Kimmie? Wasn't that what you were trying to say when you started fooling around with your ninja girlfriend? Is she here too? Or did you get bored with her as well?"
Shego's eyes narrow, as another of the ninjas steps forward, revealing her face as well. "I am here, Shego-San. And Stop.. Ron has been very dedicated to me. And to his training."
Shego scoffs at that. "Well, there is a first time for everything. Then again, I guess I should be thankful that you're the kind of man that strings his so called girlfriend along while he is making eyes at another woman. If not, I wouldn't have ended up with Kim. Try it, Monkey Boy."
This last bit comes as Ron clenched his fists, either getting angry or getting ready to fight..
Kim clasps Shego's shoulder, gently restraining her, her eyes pleading with her to stop. Yori places a hand on Ron's chest, stopping him as he steps forward.
Shego ignores Kim's plea.
"Just because you picked up a few ninja tricks doesn't mean you can beat me."
she snarls, "But, go ahead, take your best shot."
Kim steps between the two of them, "Shego please, this isn't helping."
Reluctantly Shego takes a pace back, but her eyes are still locked on Ron as Kim continues.
"Why are you here, Ron? I can't believe it's a coincidence that you just happened to be in town just as these guys attacked us."
"It's not. We came when Sensei said Kim was in danger. He foresaw something about a force not of this earth. We don't know what they are, though."
Shego storms over to the body of the closest guard, lifting his head up and shoving his helmet off, the heavy metal bouncing across the floor.
"So now you care about this? They're called Lowardians. We've both tangled with them before, Kim nearly died fighting one of them." Shego spat. "Where were you then, when she was injured? You weren't worried about enough back then to come and see if she was alright."
Ron looks more distressed by this statement, rather than angry at Shego.
"I was worried about her. Of course I was. Wade contacted me after it happened. It took a while, but he managed to find out where I was. And by then, Kim was out of danger."
Ron turns to face Kim."I wanted to come back, K.P, even before you got injured. But I wasn't sure that you would have wanted to see me. I hurt you. I know that and nothing can change that. But I knew that I love Yori. I just couldn't get the courage up to tell you. I knew it would hurt you. So, yeah, I took the cowardly way out, just running from it. I could have explained, but I didn't. And I'm sorry for that. I can't say more than that."
"You don't have to. I'm gonna call Wade. See if this is an isolated incident. I hope it is." She mutters this last part under her breath.
Kim pulls the communicator out of her back pocket.
After a few seconds pause, the screen fills with the image of the young genius.
"Hey, Kim. How did the..."
He cuts himself off in midsentence as he notices Kim's expression.
"What's wrong?"
"We just got jumped by some Lowardian's, here in Middleton. Have there been any sightings of them anywhere else?"
"Not that I've heard about. Let me check the Global Justice satellites. If they are here, then they will be watching them."
Silence follows for a few seconds, only filled by the sound of Wade tapping instructions into his computer. Then he looks back at the screen, his face concerned.
"I can't get into the GJ mainframe. And I can't raise them on any of the regular or emergency channels."
"Okay, Wade. Looks like we need a ride to Global Justice. Can you arrange that?"
Before he can reply, Ron cuts him off.
"Leave that to me. We have a chopper stashed nearby. It can carry all of us and if global Justice has been attacked, we don't have time to waste."
Neither Kim or Shego can argue with that.
"Okay. Ron, could you spare a couple of people to get my family home? I'd rather someone kept an eye on them."
Ron nods, quickly selecting five ninjas that move away from the group.
Kim walks over to them. "Sorry about this, Mum. Dad. I wanted today to be special."
Anne places a hand on her daughters shoulder. "It is special, Kimmie. Now, don't worry about us. We'll be here when you get back."
Kim and Shego take two seats at the back of the large military style helicopter, quickly strapping themselves in, as it takes off with a lurch.
Kim shoots a sideways glance at her girlfriend. She seems distracted, withdrawn. And Kim can guess what is bothering her.
"Shego, are you okay with Ron being here? Cause you seemed really put out back there."
"What, am I okay with seeing the guy that treated you like dirt for who knows how long? Not really, but I'll put up with it."
Strange, Kim thinks, that that is what she chooses to remember, given all the times that Ron helped to get her arrested, or that accident with the attitudinator, that could have ruined her only chance to be with Kim.
But..
"Are you sure that's all it is Shego?"
Kim makes sure her voice is soothing, not accusing.
"What are you trying to say, Princess?"
"I don't know. Maybe you're worried that now that Ron's back, my feelings for him might come back too?"
Shego stares down at her lap, so that Kim can't see her eyes, won't see the tears welling up in the corners.
That is indeed what she had been thinking, but she had it under control. But hearing Kim mention it had really brought it to the front. The thought of not being with Kim makes her heart ache.
Kim places a hand under Shego's chin, lifting her head, wiping away her tears with the other, "You don't have to worry about that. Ron and I have moved on. And I don't think we could go back, even if we wanted to. Too much has happened between us. I still love him, I think. But as a friend. I don't think I can love him the way I love you. Not anymore."
Shego manages a shaky smile at that.
"We must be getting close, Princess. I think we'd better change."
Kim nods, standing slowly, feeling a little self conscious about undressing in the middle of this crowd, but she doesn't really have a choice. Taking the plunge, she pulls her shirt over her head, then unbuttons her trousers, letting them fall to the floor. She glances over at Shego who like her has stripped down to her underwear. Not seeming concerned about her near nakedness, she is already rummaging through the rucksack that one of the ninjas had collected from Kim's house. She tosses Kim's traditional black crop top and cargo pants to her, then pulls out her jumpsuit.
Gratefully, Kim slips them on, replacing her high heels with her sneakers. The familiarity of her mission gear offers a sort of comfort that she really needs right now. That, along with having Shego, Ron and Yori with her, makes her feel a bit more confidant. She returns to her seat, Shego joining her soon after.
The helicopter is slowing rapidly, getting ready for a landing. Ten of the ninjas led by Yori make ready by the hatch, grabbing the straps that hang from the ceiling. As soon as the helicopter touches down, one of them hits the ramp release, all eleven leaping down to the ground.
Upon receiving the signal that the area is clear, Ron, Kim and Shego join them.
The outside of Global Justice seems deserted, no body moving around the courtyard. Quickly they all run towards the front, heading for a small door.
' This is creepy.' Shego thinks to herself. The ninjas running alongside her are moving so silently, that they might as well be ghosts.
Shego is no slouch when it comes to being stealthy, but these guys are something else. she can't even hear them breathing.
This situation is strange for Kim as well, only for different reasons. As she watches Ron move, she notices how much he has changed. She has seen him sneaking through the lair of one of her foes more times than she can count. And all of those times he had moved timidly, as if he was waiting for something to leap out of the shadows at him. He still has that look, except now she would have to describe his attitude as more wary, than afraid. And he seems ready to fight whatever surprises him, rather than run from it.
The group arrives at the door with no problems. Ron voices the thought that everybody else is thinking. "Is it me, or is this too easy?"
"It's not just you, Monkey Boy. We should have seen someone by now, either more Lowardian soldiers or Global Justice personnel. Plus, check the security cameras. They're dead."
Sure enough the cameras are motionless, not tracking across the courtyard like they should.
"Okay, something's definitely wrong. We need to get in there. I'll bet Wade can hack this door, given enough time."
She had barely started to pull the Kimmunicator out of her pocket, when the air was torn by a loud explosion. Everyone turned to stare at the melted and twisted remains of the door, then over to Shego, the green glow fading from around her hands.
She shrugged. "What? The doors open. Let's go."
Once inside, Kim looks up and down the long corridor. "Any idea which way we should go, Wade?"
"My scans show a lot of power being used about three levels down. I would suggest you start there."
"Okay, let's go."
Kim presses the panel by the side of the door and it slides up. Kim, Shego, Ron and Yori step inside, leaving the rest of the ninjas on guard outside.
"Looks like the detention area." Yori observes. The room is divided up into several small rooms, each one designed to be isolated by a powerful force field.
Most seem deactivated. Except an electric buzz can just be heard from the far end, so some must still be running. The four slowly advance towards it, cautious and alert.
As they get closer, the can see the bright light of the force fields coming from four of the cells.
A voice fills the air as Kim steps carefully out in front of the nearest.
"Well, you're certainly the last person I expected to see here."
Kim's reactions kick in as she recognises the source of the voice, her body instinctively dropping into a fighting pose. "Monkey Fist?"
"Indeed. Now, would you be good enough to lower this force field?"
Kim crosses her arms, staring at the trapped villain. "Now, why would I do that?"
Before she can reply, another voice calls out to her.
"Ms. Possible? Over here."
Kim sprints to the source of the voice, stopping in front of another cell.
"Dr Director?"
Shego strolls over.
"Well, this is quite a switch for you, huh, Betty? You on that side of the bars, me on this. Gotta say, it suits you."
Then her face, the smug smile she is affecting, freezes as she sees one of the figures at the back of the cell.
"Mother?"
Her voice a soft whisper.
Kim can't help staring at the woman that makes her way to the front of the cell. She looks so like Shego, expect her skin isn't the familiar shade of green she had expected, plus she has a few streaks of grey hair over her temples, but apart from that..
"Hello, Shego."
If she had been expected a warm greeting from her daughter in return, she was disappointed.
"What are you doing here?"
"I work with Global Justice, on a sort of consulting basis."
"Consulting? On what."
" Many things. Things I know a great deal about. Like you, my dear."
"What? What do you mean 'consulting'?"
"Dr Director called me in after you were arrested a few months ago. She needed someone to judge your mental state."
"Really? Why, so you tell her to lock me up for good?"
"Not for good, but that was going to be my recommendation to her, yes. But I saw something different in you that time. I saw that something had changed. Something I guessed had to do with Miss Possible here. So, I suggested that you be released into her care."
"Oh, yeah. And am I supposed to thank you for that?"
Dr Director cuts across the increasingly heated discussion.
"Isabel, we do have more important things to deal with right now. Ms Possible, we have to get out of here. The Lowardians are planning to invade earth. In fact, they may already have begun. But if we act now, maybe we can stop them."
"Okay. Dr Director, do you have somewhere we can hide for a while?"
"Yes. We have some safe houses set up. From there, we can also see what is going on."
"Perfect. How do I shut down these force fields?"
Dr Director points back towards the entrance of the cell block.
"Use that console to the left of the door. You'll need my security code."
The one eyed woman reels out a string of numbers that Kim repeats a few times under her breath, getting it into her head.
"Excuse me. Do you plan to just leave me here?"
Shego turns back to Monkey Fist.
"Why should we help you?"
Kim cuts off Monkey Fist's reply.
"Shego, he's right. We can't just leave him here, not if Global Justice is pulling out."
With that she sprints back to the entrance, quickly punching in the code she had been given.
The electric hum dies as the cells are unlocked.
Monkey Fist steps out, his face set in a smug grin. Which fades as Agent Du slaps a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.
He glares at Kim, "What is this? You said you'd let me go."
"Actually, I said I let you out of the cell. What Dr Director chooses to do with you after that is her decision."
With its slightly larger group of passengers on board, the helicopter takes off again, the pilot heading for the coordinates provided by Dr Director.
The one eyed woman is seated next to Isabel, in the pair of seats opposite Kim and Shego, the latter staring fixedly out of the window, ignoring the two older women.
"What makes you so sure that the Lowardians won't have found out about your safe houses. You did say that they broke into your network didn't you? Doesn't that mean that they have access to all the information stored there?"
Dr Director nods, her one eye narrowed just a little, her face serious, "Yes, they had access to a vast store of data, but the safe house locations are not kept on our mainframe."
She pulls a small device out of her back pocket.
"They are on this, and a few dozen other units like this one in the hands of trusted agents currently under deep cover. And they are never connected to a network. That way the information remains secure."
Suddenly, they are interrupted by a voice from the cockpit. "We should be arriving at the location you specified in about five minutes."
Shego looks up at Dr Director.
"Any reason you chose the Middleton safe house? Something tells me it wasn't just so you could drop Kimmie home."
"No, it wasn't. The Middleton facility is centrally located, so we can quickly contact and regroup with units from the surrounding safe houses."
The group of ninjas, global justice agents, Kim and Shego quickly slip towards what Dr Director identified as the entrance to the safe house.
It looked more like a disused factory, but Dr Director seemed to know where she is going, leading them on a twisting path between old rusted machinery and broken conveyor belts, to a lift at the back, with an out of order sign over it.
Despite that, she inserted a key into the panel, turned it and the whole thing came alive.
Yori, having dispatched the ninjas to guard the front, slipped inside just as the doors shut, the lift rapidly descending.
Instead of dropping only a few floors, the downward journey continued for a good five minutes, before the doors slid open silently.
Dr Director and Agent Du are the first out, quickly initialising the central control panel, the monitor mounted on the back wall flickering to life.
At first the screen displays the Global Justice logo, then switches to a map of America, the major cities marked by red dots.
Scattered around them are a series of smaller blue dots, representing the Global Justice safe houses.
Pressing a few more buttons, Dr Director opens up a commlink to the Washington safe house.
The voice that emanates from the speaker sounds both relieved and terrified.
"Dr Director? Thank god. We've been trying to reach HQ for hours."
"HQ is gone. Neutralised by an alien attack force. We believe they may be heading your way."
"That's just it. They're already here. The streets are full of these alien soldiers. They've taken all major buildings and government instillations. They've also started rounding up the population. I'm afraid Washington is lost."
Okay. That's it for this chapter. Again, I feel I must apologise for how long it took me to finish this and post it. Life is conspiring to keep me from writing, I'm sure of it.
Anyway, if you enjoyed this, feel free to leave a comment. All the best to you all.
Mereel.
(Note: I took the name of Shego's mother from the story 'Walking the line' by Starvinglunatic. I just like the name so much, that no other seems appropriate. No plagiarism is intended. It is purely an homage.)