I don't own these characters; Disney does.
11: A Possible Company
"Oh, god, will you both just shut up and someone check the fucking sail! One of them sounds loose!" Shego hollered at Kim and Ron.
The two had been chatting since sun up and getting on Shego's nerves. You'd think they've known each other forever! Honestly, she had never in her life seen two people get along so easily, so quickly. It was beyond annoying.
"She's cranky," Ron commented. He and Kim were on the deck, leaving Shego on the poop deck alone because of her attitude. They thought that would be enough to calm her down, but obviously not.
"Just like yesterday," Kim pointed out.
"And the day before that," he added with an amused smirk.
They both figured if they did not hit land soon, Shego would go stir crazy and they doubted it would be a pretty sight. She was not coping as well as Kim and Ron, who were immediate friends. They found out they were both the same age and had plenty to share with each other. They were from the same area in the mother country. Kim told Ron about things happening in the Capital since it had been years since he had been back home. He shared tales of places around the world he had seen since being shanghaied by Lord Fiske.
"Shego, we can't do everything while you stay behind the helm," Kim pointed out. She made sure they stayed on course while also trying to decipher the map. She had just been up the ratlines moments before to check their course and the sail seemed fine while she was up there.
"I guess this would be a bad time to point out that some of the boards below deck are loose, too," Ron said. Nothing seemed too bad yet, but he was sure they would be better off fixing those boards before they got any worse.
"What? Did we really grab the one ship falling apart and probably wanted by half the Imperial Navy?" Shego huffed, rolling her eyes in disgust. Damn the luck!
Another sour spot between them was when Ron had filled them on how badly the Navy actually wanted Lord Fiske. It turned out being an illegal slave trader was just the tip of the iceberg with him. Now, they sailed a ship the Navy would assume held the outlaw, so they would be attacked as soon as the Navy spotted them. They would have to do something about that, too, they all knew. Unfortunately, none of them had any ideas so far.
"You sure know how to pick 'em," Kim argued, snorting in the helmsman's direction.
"Hey, don't get smart with me, Princess!" Shego snarled, shaking a fist at the redhead.
Kim arched an eyebrow to the nickname. It was not the first time in the past couple of days that Shego had called her that and she knew it had to do with the bits of her past that she had divulged. Shego was using the name to mock her rather normal, almost aristocratic upbringing by well-to-do and well-meaning parents.
"Keep it up, Shego, and this princess will take you down just like I did back at the pier," Kim replied.
"Oh, bring it on!" Shego howled. "Besides, as I remember it, you were the one cowering behind a barrel of black powder trying to kill us both!"
"Uh…" Ron gingerly raised his hand, already learning it was a dangerous thing to get in the middle of an argument between the two women. "If I may, if you two start fighting, who's gonna steer and who's gonna make sure we're going the right way?" he pointed out quite diplomatically.
The question easily settled the matter — no fighting at the moment. After only a couple of days together, it was pretty clear to them all that being a crew of three was not going to work. It was not just because of Shego's rotten attitude, but because there was a lot more to do on a ship than Kim and Shego thought about when they first hijacked the brig. Neither of them said so out loud, but they readily admitted to themselves it was a bit silly for them to think they could do it alone. Hell, they would have starved to death if Ron was not aboard and they had lucked out with getting him!
"Ladies, I might not know where we're going, but I think we're gonna need more than us to just get there," Ron said, saying what he was learning the two women would not say. He was already able to figure out they were not going to admit to fault to each other. He had seen the peacocking behavior between men plenty of times, but never between two women. They were odd ladies, but at least Kim was very affable. He liked her a lot.
"No, no, no. The three of us are just fine," Shego argued. More crew meant more shares and, sure, she figured there was more than enough to go around, but she wanted as much as she could get. It was one of her many failings that she looked at as a good thing.
"I think Ron has a point, Shego. There's no way we'll be able to run a successful ship between the three of us. What if the Navy attacks us? Two people on the guns? I don't think that works. I've looked at these guns. It would probably take four to six people to work one. If the boards are falling apart, too, none of us have experience in repairing a ship, unless there are talents you have that you haven't shared yet," Kim stated in a calm tone.
"Why don't you just invite all of the colonies to go with us then!" Shego threw her hands up in complaint.
Kim's face settled into a bit of a frown. "Shego, are you always this difficult?" She hoped Shego was really just cranky from being on a new ship around new people and soon the attitude would pass. It was starting to look like she was hoping for too much.
"Yes!" was the honest answer.
"I don't see how Drakken put up with you without shooting you out of a gun then," Ron remarked, earning a glare from the temporary helmsman.
Ron flinched, seeing just from the glint in her eyes why she was known as a Fury. Yes, he had heard of her through gossip by some of the sailors on his ship. He had also heard a little about Kim and he could not understand how she earned a moniker like "Red Devil." He was not going to ask right now. Maybe later, when Shego was not around.
"You keep it up and I'll shoot you out of a gun!" Shego informed him. From what he had seen of her attitude, he figured that was a promise, not a threat.
"She's got the disposition of a sea serpent," Ron whispered to Rufus, who was on his shoulder. The rodent nodded in agreement.
"Don't think your little bald rat won't follow you out that gun either!" the pale woman added.
Kim knew she needed to step in because Shego liked to argue. She would drag them on for as long as possible with both Ron and Kim. She suspected Shego objected to certain things just for the argument. How they would survive with her in the crew, Kim was not sure yet.
"Okay, how about this: we vote on it," Kim proposed. This was not something Shego could protest to. They were a pirate crew, after all, and pirate crews voted on things.
"Vote?" Shego echoed.
"Yes, vote. All in favor of getting a few more crew members, say aye," Kim said.
She and Ron both raised their hands while simultaneously saying, "Aye."
"All opposed…?" Kim said.
"Nay!" Shego huffed.
"The ayes have it. We'll pick up a few more crew members. When we get to Middleton, we'll look for people who might want to join up in the company. And if we're going to be a company, we'll need for them to have a code to agree to," Kim realized.
"Are we a company?" Ron looked around at them. He had not really thought of them like that, but it was mostly because there were just three of them, four if Rufus was counted, which he liked to be.
"Yes, we're a company!" Kim declared with a grin, feeling giddy inside. She could not believe she was so enthused about this. But, she wanted to write up the Articles of Agreement and have a crew of people, like Betty had had. A crew of people who had nowhere else to go and could depend on her to help them better their lives, seek freedom, and live better than what land had to offer… without killing people.
"Company Possible?" Ron wondered aloud. Kim seemed like the captain. She was the one with the map and knew where they were going. Yes, he knew about the map. Kim did not seem to consider it secret, even though Shego had almost bust a gut when Kim just casually revealed the map to him.
"Sounds good! Shego, keep this course! I'll be back in about an hour!" the redhead declared, marching off into the captain's quarters. She and Shego had been sharing it for the past couple of days.
Shego did not seem so willing to acknowledge Kim as captain anymore when she started arguing over the room their first night aboard. Kim let Shego have it, mostly because she took the night watch and would not be in the room anyway. But, when Kim needed a room to rest, she insisted on having the captain's quarters because she was pretty certain she was the captain. This was her quest, after all.
As soon as Kim was gone, Ron decided to make himself scarce, going back to the galley. Shego stared off at the horizon as she manned the wheel. She hated to think it, but she felt a little lonely without Kim and Ron buzzing around deck. She was not used to the feeling, but then again, she was not used to being around people who seemed to have half-a-brain either. Although with Ron, she thought the rat might be the one with the brain. Ron certainly was as useless as all of the other men she had sailed with, but Kim was something else.
"I shouldn't expect anything less from a woman that sailed with Blackheart," Shego muttered, remembering the female captain's fierce reputation and the reputation of her whole company.
Shego figured the Navy had to be full of itself right now. They took down one of the most feared pirate companies when they finally caught up to the Global Justice, and then they captured Drakken. Sure, he was not as worrisome as Betty Blackheart, but he was still famous enough for the Navy to make it seem like they were controlling the pirate situation in the colonies. Honestly, she thought the Navy was full of it point blank and the Empire was, too. One of the reasons she liked being a pirate was just to stick it to both of those entities.
The more alone time that she had, the more Shego thought on things. This was her first time being a helmsman. She never did much on Drakken's ship when they were not after a prize. Most of the crew was scared of her and would not dare ask anything of her. Sometimes, Drakken could screw up his courage and request she do a job of some kind. She tended to respond with violence, which kept the crew away even more. It never did stop Drakken, though, she realized. She chuckled a bit, recalling his persistence in pestering her. It was one of the things I liked about the moron.
She figured she would have to do a lot more on this ship than with Drakken, even after they pick up more crew members. For some reason, it did not annoy her as much as it would have if she had to do it on Drakken's ship. She figured it was the promise of money — lots of money — that made her feel that way.
"Hey, you want me to take over?" Kim asked, climbing the stairs and taking Shego from her thoughts.
"Huh? Why?" Shego looked around, not realizing that night had settled in.
"I just figured you'd be tired and you might want some supper. Ron made some more stew. We should hit Middleton in the morning, which is good because Ron needs to buy supplies for the galley," Kim explained.
Shego arched an eyebrow. "Can we afford that?"
"Lord Fiske had a pile of crowns and jewels in his room, so we should be all right with that." They could use that money to fix the ship and also redecorate the captain's cabin to something a little less ominous.
"Will his crowns be enough for us to make this journey?" Shego had seen the stash. It was impressive, but probably not enough to last them for long if they had to work on the ship or gather more crew.
Kim shook her head. "I doubt it, but we'll see. The hold has some money, too. I'm guessing we got these guys right after they took a prize and were off to spend their shares."
"Yeah, sounds like what we were trying to do before someone's eyes settled on the wrong prize," Shego commented.
Kim decided to glance over those words, feeling that had to be an open wound for Shego. Instead, she wanted to come to understanding as to what type of pirate company they would be. "Shego, I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not the type of pirate that takes any prize and kills any sailor to do it."
"I figured that when you were blabbing on with the cook. You sound like a square kid, Princess. Makes me wonder how you got into this, but I've seen your wanted poster, so I know the answer to that," Shego remarked.
Kim frowned and glared at the taller woman, but decided not to get into it about the wanted poster. "Look, when we get to Middleton, I want to go to an auction. I was hoping you'd come with me."
"An auction?" Shego echoed. She knew what type of auctions they had in Middleton. "I didn't think you supported that kinda thing, Princess."
"I don't. That's the point. Being out on the sea, being a pirate, that's better than anything else… right?" They had enough money to buy some help and give at least a few people a better life.
Shego smiled. "You're right about that, Princess. But, here's the thing, when you don't agree with something, you shouldn't support it, especially when you're a pirate."
Kim's brow wrinkled. "What do you mean?"
Shego chuckled a bit. "You come with me to the auction and you'll see what I mean. You let me handle this one." She realized she was about to have some fun and this made her happy to have partnered up with Kim.
"No killing anyone."
"I got that. Don't worry. You'll love this." A smirk settled on Shego's face.
Kim decided against arguing, even though she knew deep down what Shego planned to do. She had no clue how Shego would be able to do it. In her mind, it seemed a bit tricky, especially with only two people. But, if the pale woman was going to do what she thought, she had no problem with that. After months of taking prizes from people she was not too sure deserved it and could only trust Betty's word on it, taking something she honestly believed could not belong to another human being anyway sounded right nice to her.
-8-8-8-8-
Docking in Middleton came the following morning. Shego was a bit impressed with Kim's ability to get them there in three days. When traveling with Drakken's crew, it usually took them a week to get to Middleton from their last port. Honestly, it should only take three days, but Drakken was an idiot on some matters, with navigation being on the list.
"Okay, Ron, you need to be back on the ship with your supplies in an hour," Kim warned.
Ron baffled. "One hour?" That was not nearly enough time for everything he needed. "Why?" He hoped this insanely short time frame did not mean Kim was actually as tyrannical as Monkey Fist was.
"Just trust me on this. You have to be back in an hour," Kim insisted.
"That's not enough time," he protested.
Shego shook her head to the exchange. "Kim, you're telling the wrong guy." She turned her attention to Rufus, pointing at him. "Listen, rat, make sure this blond buffoon is back here in an hour. No more than an hour," she ordered.
Rufus stood up on his shoulder, puffed out his chest, and saluted to show that he understood. Shego rolled her eyes. This venture was getting stranger and stranger by the second. Never before did she ever think she could be conversing with a naked mole rat, which said a lot considering the things she put up with Drakken. Shaking that away, she turned her attention to Kim.
With a smirk on her face, Shego turned back to Kim. "Ready to do this?" She rubbed her hands together.
"Sure, but I want to modify things a little if I can," Kim replied.
Ron slipped away since he figured they had plans to speak on, which did not seem to involve him. Plus, he had supplies to buy and not a lot of time to do it. He hoped the plans were the reason he only had an hour and not because Kim was really some crazy control freak and it only came out on land.
"What do you want to do then?" Shego asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Get them all out of there," the younger woman stated with conviction. She would never feel good leaving anyone behind in those circumstances.
Sighing, Shego ran her hand through her long, ebony mane. "Princess, your ideals are gonna get us killed before we ever start this little adventure. I don't agree with it either, but I don't think we need to go overboard."
Kim shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair. We have to do what we can for them all. I liked to think that together, you and I can take a few guards or whoever might be there."
"You ready to take on Navy and probably some of the Imperial Army, too? They station them inland, you know," Shego said.
"I do know. Hey, if we're going to be pirates, shouldn't we build up a little infamy?" A confident smile settled on Kim's face and a glint in her eyes that could only mean trouble sparkled brightly.
Shego could not and did not want to argue that. Being known was something she thoroughly enjoyed. It would be quite the way to break into the pirate world on their own. Not many pirates pissed off both the Navy and Army in one bold action. It was worth it.
"Fine. We'll do that, but two things," Shego conceded.
"What two things?" Kim asked, squinting at Shego as if studying her.
"Wait until I find people who would be good for the crew and get them to agree to it before you do anything crazy and act as a distraction after I do something crazy."
"Distraction?" Kim echoed, reeling back a little, as if she was totally offended. She was not anybody's distraction!
"Yes, distraction. Do you want this to work or what?"
Kim sighed. "Fine. I'll be a distraction."
"You don't have to be one for long. It's just that it'll probably be a lot there and I'll need time find crew members in the lot," Shego found herself explaining, not sure why she added that piece in. Maybe it was just because she needed the redhead's cooperation.
"True. Let's get this over with then," Kim said.
The two women were off after that. They had both agreed to dress subtly, which was more something Shego had to do than Kim. Kim had never gotten into the typical pirate's flamboyant manner of dressing (1), so she just made it a point to dress in a way that did not get her any overly suspicious looks. But, she wanted some attention, so no one would look at Shego when she got to work.
Shego, on the other hand, tended to dress just a little loudly when given the chance. She loved her greens, especially bright ones, but went for a more laid back dark green today. Not wearing any of the jewelry she usually would on land, she even left behind her tri-corner hat because it was not something that a proper woman would wear. The only thing she knew would get a few looks for her and Kim was the fact that they were both had on pants. They did not have any dresses and neither suggested going to buy some to try to fit in.
The walk from the pier to the auction house was done in silence. They pretty much knew just what they wanted to do and somehow they knew the other would fall right into line without talking it over. It was not something that was very complex either.
Walking inside, they both looked around and they both frowned. It was full of clearly well to do people, sitting around, waiting to buy the goods about to be placed on the auction block. Shego rolled her eyes and sneered.
"Disgusting," the older fighter grumbled.
"That's why I said we should get them all," Kim replied.
"They're not all going to join the company. We don't need that many. A couple should be good for now. The others are gonna hafta fend for themselves," Shego stated. Internally, she agreed with Kim. It would be good to get them all and stick to the filthy Empire while they were at it.
"Better chance than them just staying here ready to be sold."
"Okay, remember: don't do anything crazy until after I've done something crazy."
Kim nodded, even though that would probably be the hardest part for her. They stuck close together, looking around at not just the people, but the building itself. There was the one entrance that they and they suspected all of the customers came in, but they wanted to see if there was another one. Kim spotted it first, by the merchandise.
"Shego, by the holding pen, there's a doorway. That's probably where they bring everyone in," Kim pointed out, faintly nodding toward the other doorway. The building itself was large, open. There were seats out, but not many people sat. Somehow, it smelled like sorrow.
"We'll go out that way then. You're gonna have to go out first and clear a path. I know there's going to be guards out there. Either the Navy or Army. They'll probably shoot first and ask questions later, so be careful or give me the map before you go get shot," Shego quipped.
Olive eyes rolled. "The map wouldn't do you any good without me anyway, so I guess I'll just have to not get shot." She was not lying either. Shego would not be able to do anything with the map without her. How would Shego crack Vivian's code when it took her long days of staring and going through every moment she shared with the navigator before it all made sense to her?
"Make sure you don't then. Now, let's go check out the 'merchandise' and see if we can spot a pair to take with us," Shego said.
Kim nodded. Before they even got over to the pen, Shego knew exactly whom she wanted. She could not see them, but she could hear them. The fire in their voices was perfect. They sounded like people not to be taken lightly.
"I can't fucking believe you got me into this mess!" an angry voice hissed, obviously trying not to draw too much attention, but was still furious all the same.
"Me? How the hell is this my fault?" an equally low and heated voice demanded.
"You're the one that got busted teaching kids to read! I don't even understand how the hell I ended up here when it was all your fault!"
"Obviously someone had to teach me. I guess living in the Big House wasn't as protecting as you thought!"
"No, obviously, teaching you a damn thing is just as stupid as I thought 'cuz you're an idiot!"
Emerald eyes swiftly tracked down the arguing pair through the sea of huddled bodies. A chocolate-skinned young woman with dark, long wavy hair growled at a tan young woman with dark, sandy brown hair. The lighter of the duo was incensed from the look on her face and barked as quietly as possible to avoid having anyone notice her, but apparently wanting her companion to know just how pissed off she was.
"I'm an idiot?" The chocolate-skinned woman motioned to herself with both hands.
"Yes, you're an idiot! Look at where we are because of you. This isn't something a smart person would be dealing with!"
They've got serious fire, Shego thought. Fire and insanity; seemed like just the thing for the crew that she was with. She turned her attention to Kim. "All right, Princess, I see who we should take. I just want to check 'em out a little more. Try to keep some attention off of me while I act like I'm inspecting them, okay?"
"No big," Kim answered with a confident grin as she turned her attention to the crowd of potential buyers.
Shego thought that was a weird thing to say, but she did not mention it. She walked over to the pen, shaking her head at seeing human beings being caged in like cattle. Her lip curled on its own as she took in the state of the people, wounded bodies, hopelessness, and utter despair. Mothers clutched crying children to their chests, knowing they were not likely to see each other again. Bodies were barely clothed, shaking and shivering as they waited to be treated worse than dogs.
Before calling over the duo she wanted, Shego turned to see what Kim was doing and discovered the redhead managed to start a conversation that seemed to be so engaging several people were involved and more were moving to join in. Shego was silently impressed by Kim's ability to turn all of the attention onto herself.
"Hey," Shego hissed, pointing to the arguing pair. They noticed and pointed to themselves. She nodded. "Come here!" she ordered and they shook their heads. "Don't make me come in there and slap you around. Come here! Before it's too late," she commanded.
Feeling they were already in enough trouble, considering the fact that they were about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, they felt it might be a little safer to listen than to anger a possible master. Heaven knew they did not want to feel the sting of a whip again. They reluctantly marched over to Shego, fully expecting her to grab them and start inspecting them like horses as many other potential buyers had done during the day.
"You two look like you could use some help," Shego commented and put her hand up as the wavy-haired woman was about to speak. "Don't say anything until you hear me out. Me and my partner need a little help on our ship. If you agree to help us, we'll get you out of here," she explained.
"How?" the chocolate-skinned woman demanded.
"Just trust me right now. Would you rather be free on a ship and live your lives out at sea or picking pears for some bastard who won't keep his hands to himself?" Shego pointed out. It seemed like an easy choice, so she was little upset when they actually had to mull it over, taking a few seconds to look at each other.
"You really expect us to believe that crap?" the tan girl asked. There was no way someone was trying to rescue them from the horrors that had been their lot in life.
"Hey, it's a take it or leave it deal. I don't have time to talk over details. Yes or no, quick," Shego stated.
The young women looked at each other again before simultaneously turning back to Shego and nodding. The pirate smiled. She checked on Kim again, noting the redhead still had everyone's attention and a much larger audience then before. It looked like damn near everyone in the place was interested in whatever Kim was going on about.
"You got chains on?" Shego asked, even though she knew the answer to that. They held out their hands and she quickly made short work of their shackles, gliding a glowing finger down the iron manacles.
"How… how did…?" the wavy-haired girl tried to ask.
"Never mind that. Hold up the other hand, quick," Shego ordered.
They did as they were told and Shego freed their hands from their bonds. She then told them to direct the others to her, so that she could free their hands, too. They did as they were told, wanting to see what else this obvious demon-woman could do and how she planned to get them out of there since it seemed clear that she was not about to buy them. Cutting through over three-dozen iron cuffs in a little over two minutes had to be record, Shego thought.
Once that was done, Shego checked on Kim again. All eyes were still on the redhead. That much be some speech! Or maybe she's just flashing them or something. Shego really did not give a damn what Kim was doing as long as everyone was still paying attention to her. With that out of the way, Shego turned back to the pen and easily leaped over the railing.
"What are you doing?" the tan girl inquired.
"I figure the back way out of here is locked, so I'm going to unlock it. When I do that, you two follow a redhead dressed like me. She's about your age, easy to spot. You fuck us over in this and we'll leave you guys to get sold to the highest-paying asshole," Shego informed them.
The duo nodded. Shego went to the back of the place and saw a metal gate locked it. Charging her hands, her fingers cut through the gate like nothing. Now, she figured it was time for a loud signal to let Kim know it was time to go and something to take attention from them as they made their getaway. Putting her hands together and building up power, she made a large plasma ball and flung it at the ceiling. There was an explosion on impact, debris flying everywhere, people screaming, and dust covering the room.
"I get the feeling Shego wants my attention," Kim muttered to herself, charging over to the pen and being met by Shego.
"The two I got know to follow you. I'm going to block the exit and cover the rear," Shego informed the redhead.
"Good," Kim agreed and easily hopped the gate into the slave pen.
Kim pushed her way to the front of the mass exit through the back way. Some guards, who were trying to hold back the escaping slaves, met her as soon as she got to where she needed to be. Wasting no time, Kim went to work on the guards and kept the escape moving. They were barely away from the auction house when Kim noted there were flames coming from the building. She knew Shego started a fire, but she did not care. She hoped that horrible place burned to the ground. Human beings should not be selling other human beings.
Kim had no problem figuring out the two Shego picked for the crew. They followed her as she shook guards from their tails and made her way back to the ship. While most of the newly freed slaves started spreading from the crowd, those two made sure to stay with Kim. By the time they made it back to the ship, Shego was right with them. Kim and Shego wasted no time casting off, hoping Ron heeded their warning about being back in an hour.
"Guys, why does it seem like we're leaving already?" Ron asked as he came above deck. He immediately took notice of the two new ladies. "And who are they? Aside from very good looking, might I say." He wiggled his eyes and the tan female rolled her eyes in disgust while the other giggled, not like she was flattered, though. It was like she thought Ron was silly.
"Not a chance, blondie," the more hostile of the two commented.
"These are our newest crewmates," Kim motioned to the now former slaves.
"Hi, ladies," Ron greeted them with what he wanted to be suave grin and wave. More eye-rolling and giggling was the response. He did not seem bothered by that, but turned his attention back to Kim. "Uh… if we're leaving, they're not the only new crew members," he informed them.
"Who else?" Kim asked with a wrinkle between her eyebrows. Suddenly, a brown-skinned boy came above deck to.
Ron laughed and pointed to the newcomer. "Uh… him. He was helping me put away supplies, but it seems like he won't be going back to the market now."
"Hell, no, he won't," Shego remarked.
Kim let out a laugh. "Well, our crew just doubled in size. Everybody, welcome to Company Possible," she announced. If there were crickets out at sea, they would have chirped at that point. But, Kim smiled. She was certain the crew would warm up to each other.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: The crew gets along about as well starving, angry dogs locked in a tiny cell together. It gets to the point where Kim and Shego have a rematch.
1: Pirates were known to wear flamboyant, elaborate clothing when on shore.