Chapter Three
Kim dropped her stance, and she and Rufus went over to check out what had happened. He had run up her arm and was sitting on her shoulder. The girls looked about her age, but there was something strange about them...
"This one has a halo and wings!" she suddenly realized. She moved over to get a better look at the other. "This one's got wings too, like a bat... and horns!"
"An angel and a devil?" pondered Kim. She reached toward the glowing blue halo over the blond.
UH UH!" said Rufus, waving his forelegs to stop her.
"Maybe you're right," agreed the heroine, and pulled her hand back. "But who are they? Where'd they come from? How'd they get here?"
The mole rat shrugged. "Dunno."
Kim keyed the Kimmunicator.
"Hi, Kim, what's up?" Wade asked.
"Wade, I've got a ferociously weird sitch here, and need some help," she told him.
The pudgy, dark-skinned boy put down his Mega Slurpster and looked at her. "What happened?"
She described the events of the past few minutes, and showed him the two girls on the bed. They still hadn't moved.
"Ooo-kay... that is weird," he agreed. "Let's start with what I know something about. I want to scan the package first."
She turned the small device toward the open package, and they heard the click of keys for several seconds. A tube emerged and extended over to the box, where it slowly went down into the packing peanuts.
"Kim, there's an electronics package under a false bottom. I see a pressure switch that probably activated it, and there are a couple of batteries, but the electronics are fried," he reported.
"What did it do?" she asked.
"No idea. I'll have to do some schematics comparisons and see if I can find a match. That'll take some time," he said. The tube withdrew and scanned the Cuddlebuddy, now lying on the floor. "The doll is safe, and so is the package, now."
Kim picked up the doll, its eyes staring sightlessly at her, looked it over, then hugged it to her. "Not YOUR fault," she thought to it, "But who remembers I collect Cuddlebuddies?"
The tube snaked over and scanned the two on the bed. Wade was silent for a minute, as his computers crunched numbers.
"Well," he said at last, "Except for the obvious, they're both human." The sensor tube withdrew into the Kimmunicator.
"How can that be?" asked Kim.
"I dunno. Have to ask when they wake up. Far as I can tell, they weren't harmed by whatever happened," he answered.
Just then Rufus chattered at her.
"You've seen them before?" she asked. Over the years she had gotten pretty good at understanding Rufus, but not as well as Ron.
More chattering and pointing.
"Well, why didn't you say anything?"
Rufus gave her a dirty look.
"Yeah, I guess it would be hard to believe..." She stared at her unexpected guests.
"Kim, is anyone else at home?" asked Wade.
"No, Dad's at soccer practice with the Tweebs, and Mom had surgery."
"Maybe I should call them," he said, thoughtfully.
The redhead hesitated, thinking. "No, hold off, please and thank you. Let's see what the sitch is, first."
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
Shego was sitting on the couch in the lair, watching TV and filing her nails when a strangled shout reached her ears. She cocked an eyebrow and glanced in that direction, but otherwise didn't respond.
A few seconds later, Drakken came out of the lab and sat down by her with a huff and an angry expression.
"What's wrong now?" the glamorous sidekick asked.
He sighed. "That package. Something kept nagging at me, so I went over the diagrams again and found a mistake. I wired the power leads backwards."
"And that means...?"
"It won't work. All that time and equipment, wasted," he grumbled.
"It was supposed to pull Princess into another universe, right? Well, maybe it pulled something else here and it will take care of her." she offered.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe... but..." He waved a hand. "Ah, never mind. It probably just burned out. What are we watching?"
Shego shook her head. Even after all this time, she was still amazed at how quickly his moods and attention could shift.
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
Kabale sat up with a groan. What had happened? That human Kim opened that package, and...
"Are you okay?" Raf's voice came to her, sounding strained.
"Yeah, I think so," she answered. "What hap-" She looked up toward her rival, but past her saw the human looking at them. Right at them, like they were visible. But that wasn't possible. In their divine and diabolic forms they couldn't be detected. But still...
"What did you start to say?" asked Raf. She was holding a hand to her head. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the devil-girl.
Kabale pointed past the angel, who turned and looked.
"Um... hi?" said Kim, nervously. She gave a halfhearted wave.
"Y-you can see us?" asked Raf.
Kim nodded.
"But that's..." said Raf. She looked at herself, then at the devil beside her. With a bit of effort she stood up. Kabale did so as well. They were both a bit wobbly for a moment.
"Sorry for the intrusion, but we need to go! Cox, activate metamorphosis!" she said.
The very large ladybug appeared and circled Raf's head a few times, humming.
"You can't?" the angel asked, startled.
Kim and Rufus exchanged a look. Why was she talking to a ladybug?
"Nosferatu, activate metamorphosis!" said Kabale.
The vampire bat appeared and squeaked at her.
"You can't either? Why not?" she asked.
Hovering side by side, the insect and the mammal answered. Neither Kim nor Rufus understood any of it, but from the way the girl's body language changed as they listened, it wasn't good. Finished explaining, the animals returned to their waiting places.
The girls stood, stunned. They were stuck like this. This was getting more impossible as time passed.
"Kabale, we need to be sure." Raf said at last. She held up a hand, palm out.
With reluctance, the other placed her palm flat against Raf's. Nothing happened, and they both sighed.
"The VETO isn't working. We're in our normal forms, but human!" said the angel.
"Well, duh," said the devil-girl. Then she remembered Kim was watching. She looked, and saw the redhead and naked mole rat still staring at them. "I think we're in trouble."
Raf looked at Kabale, then Kim and Rufus. "I KNOW we are."
KP/AF KP/AF KP/AF
"The VETO isn't working," observed Gas, "See? They touched and nothing happened."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," muttered Cabiria, and the students snickered.
"Quiet! This is serious!" said Temptel, irritated.
"Did I understand right that Cox and Nosferatu can't change them back?" asked Dolce.
"That's what they said," confirmed Urie.
"Was this SUPPOSED to happen?" asked Miki.
"I don't know," answered Arkan, with a nod from Temptel, "Nothing like it has ever happened before."
"I still think we need to go get them," said Sulfus. "If they're human now, they won't have their powers, and could be in danger."
"We need to stay here and watch," answered Temptel, firmly. "We will tell you when, and if, they should be extracted."
"But they can't even do their jobs, not with the human knowing they're there! It's useless to leave them!" he protested.
"What did I just say?" asked Temptel, glaring at him.
Sulfus shook his head, uneasy. Raf and Kabale were smart and quick on the uptake, but this was a real problem.
"How could something impossible happen?" asked Gas.
"That package is responsible," said Arkan, "Let us retrace its route to Kim Possible." He waved a hand, and events began running backward.
They watched as the box went from Kim back to Mrs. Matthews, then back to the Parcel Service warehouse, then was back on a truck to a small town in California. They saw Drakken filling out paperwork to get it shipped, a big grin on his blue face. The picture froze.
"Who's that guy?" asked Sulfus.
"His name is Drew Lipski, but calls himself Dr. Drakken," answered Temptel, "He is Kim Possible's greatest enemy; a mad scientist who wants to rule the world."
"Good for him!" said Sulfus.
"If the package was his doing, that would explain what happened," said Arkan. "It somehow interfered with Kabale and Raf's spirit forms."
"And now she's seen them, and knows what they are," said Miki.
"Ya think?" snarked Cabiria, earning her a glare from the Asian angel.
"Maybe it will wear off, and they can change back," said Gas.
"We can only pray," said Arkan, and the devils in the room suppressed a shudder.