Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible nor do I make any claim to any of Disney's copyright or property. Honestly, you people know the drill, or at least I hope you do… If I did hold the copyright, well this would be canon instead of fanfiction.
*Changes*
Ron's stomach, normally ironclad and unshakable, was threatening to spread his dinner over the console in front of him. "Uh, Shego, can you maybe stop spinning? I don't think it'll boost our survival odds if the canopy glass is covered with the nachos I had earlier," he shouted over the roar of rockets impacting against the flares.
"Yeah, sure, soon as we lose the flock of missile-launching death-birds behind us," Shego snapped.
Ron, muttering curses to himself, focused on the weapons array. While most of the aircraft's armaments faced toward the front, there was a modest selection of rear-mounted weapons, handy as that is where they were being attacked from. Looking at the weapons he saw a few interesting choices, everything from buzzsaws to liquid nitrogen warheads. "This jet is about as stocked as Green Arrow's quiver. All you're missing in here is a boxing glove missile."
"You know what I'm really missing? The sound of Aviarius' birds blowing up. You gonna get on that?"
"Working on it, the computer's trying to get a lock with a spread of these photon missiles… Sounds like something out of Star Trek. Look, you know I usually find the self-destruct button in Drakken's lairs. I do that by randomly pressing buttons. You want me to try that up here? " At the sound of a rapidly trilling beepbeepbeepbeep Ron cut his comments short. from the control panel Ron slammed down on a blinking button that had just started doing so. Feeling the jet kick under them, Ron watched the missiles soar towards their targets. Six of the birds erupted into shards of scrap and pretty lights, three deployed an electrical field around their bodies thus shielding themselves from the blast, and the one remaining had deployed all of its arsenal at once destroying itself and the missile in the process. Unfortunately one of the bird's deployed countermeasures struck the fuselage on the upper side between the stabilizers and cockpit.
The jet shook violently with the impact and subsequent explosion causing Shego to curse Drakken and his inability to get a working force field generator fit into her fighter. The rear section of the canopy shattered as she fought to keep level. "You okay back there Stoppable?" she yelled over the roar of wind.
His reply was a quiet and mildly loopy, "Mommy no more merry-go-rounds, the horses are mean… ."
"I'm guessing that's a 'no'," she deadpanned. Looking behind her, she noticed flames licking the fuselage. "Hmm, jet's on fire… that's not good."
Shaking his head vigorously, Ron responded, "I'll be fine. Our weapons are offline, the body of this jet's gonna need a fresh coat of paint and, as you can tell, the cockpit's gonna need a shitload of screen doors."
"Alright. Good news, the machine gun on this baby still reads as operational," she said, pulling the jet around sharply.
"DaHjaj 'oH a QaQ jaj Daq Hegh," Ron muttered, remembering a Klingon phrase often heard before a battle, Today is a good day to die, as the force of the turn pressed him to the side of his seat.
"What was that?"
Shego received no answer and looking at her fighter's video-com she saw why. In the rear seat lay a pair of khaki cargo pants and behind the jet was a yellow form falling into the distance. A shock of panic rushed through her and with a jerk of the control stick she was circling back. "Damnit Stoppable, you're not getting out of training that easily," she muttered trying to disguise her panic.
Finding himself falling Ron panicked, waving his arms about wildly. Until he noticed that he was not falling. "Why am I not falling? …Okay comic nerd," Ron said, "You have superpowers, the normal laws of physics don't really apply to you anymore. That or you're having a fear induced stroke. Either way, let's roll with it." Taking a breath Ron tried to will himself towards one of the birds still chasing Shego's jet.
To his utter amazement he began to move through the sky towards the bird. When he had caught up to it he allowed his glow to dissipate as he grabbed the machine by its neck. Examining the machine while holding on for dear life was no small feat. His eyes scanned for anything which could be pulled loose. Finding the flap he sought and popping it open he reached inside and yanked out several wires and something about the size of a box you would get a ring in from a jewelry store. "This looks important!" he cried and tossed the parts away.
Rephasing, he allowed the bird to fly through his fingers and veer off wildly away from his once again floating form. Scanning the area he noted that Shego had taken out another mechanical bird. Repeating the exercise he had done to get to the first he removed the last of their problems. Ron then headed for the jet. 'God I hope this works,' Ron thought trying to get his companion's attention. When she turned the craft around and slowed he knew she'd had the same thought. Adjusting his path he tried to match her speed. With another prayer he slid into the cabin, solidifying back into his seat. Ron's eyes promptly rolled up into his head as he fainted back into his seat, spending the remainder of the trip asleep, blissfully unaware that even without his glow his skin was now a deep shade of yellow.
"Okay, that was impressive," she muttered, relief evident in her voice, before resuming their journey to the Go Tower. "Sleep well boy-o because we're gonna have a loooong chat when you get up."
*Changes*
Kim paced her bedroom. 'Alone on a Friday night. I have a boyfriend and yet I'm sitting in my bedroom, alone, on a Friday night, watching reruns of Agony County,' she thought. Josh had called her a few hours previously claiming his parents would not let him go out that night due to a surprise visit from his grandparents.
Flopping down in front of her computer she opened up her web browser, looking for any information she could find on Shego. After a quick Google search, her first result was somebody's fan drawing of her kissing the green mercenary. "Oh that is beyond sick and wrong… and yet, strangely arousing."
Saving the picture she went back to looking for news articles on the villain's assistant. Most of what she found was expected, police reports, a few articles from The Go City Exposition about Team Go. Looking at a picture of whom she assumed was her brother, she shuddered, "How much muscle does that guy have? Bet Brick and the rest of the team would kill to know that guy's workout routine though."
After a solid twenty minutes of searching she found something which stood out. The headline read, 'Local hero revealed as traitor!' Clicking the link Kim read about how Shego's boyfriend at the time had been arrested for identity theft and how he claimed she had helped him get away with it. A follow-up article told the story of how Hego and the police chief of the city had ordered Shego to come in for questioning and demanded she stop all activities with Team Go. Printing out the articles she smiled, picturing the look on Drakken and Shego's faces when she saw them next.
*Changes*
"Go Tower this is SHG1 requesting landing clearance," Shego barked into her jet's headset. "I have a civilian and a slightly burning VTOL craft."
"SHG1, this is Go Tower," a familiar voice came over the radio. "Good to hear from you again Sis. Is your craft in danger of explosion?"
"Negative. Mostly it's just my paintjob still smoldering but I'd rather not take any chances."
"Can you land… whatever you're flying on the rooftop helicopter pad?"
"I think so. You dorks haven't gotten a smaller one installed have you?"
"No SHG1, we haven't."
"Good. I'll be landing there inside of five minutes."
Shego hefted Ron out of the back of her jet. As an after thought, she reached in and snagged his pants too.
"Don't girls normally leave strange pantless men alone?" came her youngest brother's voice. Whirling to face the faintly red-tinted teen she bit back a remark.
"Hello Warren. Please tell me Herman is working graveyard at that over-sized fastfood monstrosity downtown. I don't need to hear from him tonight."
"Nope. Just me and Mark."
"Aviarius making any noise?"
"No, why?"
Shego pointed at the damage done to her jet after adjusting Ron over her shoulder, explaining about the armed attack bird drones. "And now to other important matters, this kid has not only gotten himself a Glow of his own but the chunk of space rock that granted it is fused to his spine."
"Sounds serious," Warren replied, opening the door into the tower then following his sister inside.
"I dunno. But his power is that he phases. And we just learned he flies too."
"Two powers isn't abnormal. Mark has his spatial awareness gimmick on top of shrinking, Wes and I have the mental link and our duplication, Herman has invulnerability and super-strength, and you have regeneration. This guy got lucky with flight and phasing."
"Kinda like how I got lucky with regeneration."
"Funny how the regenerative ability goes to the one of us unable to repair UV damage to our skin."
"Lucky me," Shego grumbled as the two made their way to the spare bedroom she had the twins pull together.
*Changes*
Shego walked out to the training mat the combat simulator had conjured up, her white training shorts, which ran down her long legs to mid-thigh and white sports bra catching Ron's attention. She had to chuckle at the glazed over look in his eyes while thinking to herself, 'Oh yeah Arielle, you've still got it.' Aloud she said, "Good morning Sidekick, glad to see you got my note and the directions down here. You enjoy your nap?"
Ron shook himself out of the hormone induced haze brought on by her outfit and rising brushed off his loose black workout pants, the training mat squishing slightly under his bare feet. "Best sleep of my life actually, just wish you hadn't set the alarm clock for eight AM."
"Eight is me being nice. My usual workout regimen starts at five. I've kicked the rest of my brain-damaged siblings out of the tower-"
"And I'm guessing the nearest neighbors wouldn't be able to hear my girlish screams for help," Ron interrupted.
"Nope. Shouldn't need to anyway you big baby. Over the past week we've covered how to call on your glow when it's needed and how to keep it from activating without your command. Now I think you're ready for something different. Powering down, it was something the team figured out how to do so we could live normal lives in our 'off-hours'," she explained. "The more you use your powers the more obvious it becomes. If we weren't to use our glows for about a week our skin and hair would return their normal shades on their own, this accelerates the process.
"Ah, so around Drakken's bases you aren't always that lovely shade of green?"
"Actually I don't have much need for down shift in power level, now back to the task at hand. You need to relax your body and mind. You feel the steady beat of your heart? Hear the steady sound of your breathing? The warm pulse of your power? Now we've discussed how when you want to use your glow you picture the warmth from it growing, now I want you to imagine it diminishing. Like from a small comfortable fire down to embers."
As he did as instructed he felt a slight prickle across his skin, like his foot falling asleep but across his entire body. Opening his eyes he looked down at his hands, "I'm not the same shade as a banana anymore!" Looking up at Shego he noticed she'd performed her own power-down too.
Her hair, while still as long as ever, was now a deep chocolate brown instead of the raven black he was used to seeing on her. Her skin was very fair, reminding him of Tara's complexion and meeting her eyes he noticed they were a beautiful arctic blue. 'Hot damn she's gorgeous,' he thought as if seeing her for the first time.
"See something you like Ron?" his instructor smirked. When he looked away, she gave herself a slight self-satisfied nod.
"Ye- no-, sorry."
The next few hours were filled with the sounds of Shego barking instructions and Ron following them. When the duo finally finished, both were drenched in sweat. Massaging his back where her kicks had found him repeatedly, he groaned, "My back has redefined the word pain."
Limping slightly Shego headed for the girls' showers. "My foot is killing me. I still can't believe you can phase, fly, and increase your density."
"Me neither," Ron admitted. "Still not sure how to activate the density thing."
"I'll make a few calls later, I know a few scientists outside our usual circles. Right now I'm going to boil myself clean then ice down my ankle."
"Any lunch requests for after my own shower?"
"Yeah, lots of food. Greasy, fatty food."
*Changes*
Ron stood in awe of the kitchen within Go Tower. The surfaces were a dark marble with a large section covered in a wooden cutting board. The refrigerator and freezer had to be walk in models, no other reason for their doors to be that large. Two sets of double ovens sat in the wall, one over the other and a small battalion of appliances covered the counters with a pair collection of various sized microwaves that seem to have had the most use, the largest's door hanging ajar to reveal the grease stains inside. "I think this will do," Ron said while Shego limped past him to take a seat at the island.
"Glad somebody's getting some real use from it. Mego had it installed when he started taking cooking classes in college. He then dropped them four weeks after this was completed. Most of the time we would end up getting take out."
"That… is just criminal. A kitchen like this and you don't do your own cooking?"
"These days I do most of my cooking in a lair," Shego deadpanned before vanishing into the freezer, emerging a minute later with a gel filled cold-pack in her left hand, a bag in her right hand. With a swift toss it landed on the counter next to the in-counter range.
"Frozen burgers… That's the theme ingredient in today's episode of Iron Chef: Go City?"
"Yep. I think between the two of us we can polish off that package."
"Shego, there's gotta be two dozen 1/3lb burgers in this thing."
"I know. After a good round with Princess I can polish off two sheet pizzas, by myself, while my body recharges. After that little aerial display last night and the sparring this morning I imagine you'll have a nagging hunger hitting you right about… now."
As if waiting for her comment, Ron's stomach growled loudly, leaving the boy to laugh nervously before digging around for everything he would need. Large pans, rolls, spatula, onion powder, and his favorite part, cheese.
*Changes*
"And this is the sit-rep room. Remember the old Super-Friends cartoon?" Shego said wrapping up the tour of Go Tower.
"Yeah," Ron answered.
"This room serves pretty much the only function we ever saw in The Hall of Justice."
"That explains the over-sized TV." As the words left his lips the monitor blinked to life.
"Ah Shego, I've been looking for you. I need to complete my collection," a large, almost beak-nosed man with hair reminiscent of hawk feathers sporting pointed domino mask and purple caped costume said. The camera panned around to show four men in costumes similar to Shegos. One in blue, another in purple, and two in red. They were unconscious and chained to a stone wall.
"Not bad but they're not still in their original packaging, ruins the collector's value," Shego smirked.
The man's face faltered for a second. "None of the usual super-hero/villain banter?"
"Villain to villain banter is better in my opinion," she said plopping into a chair, her feet kicked back on the table.
"You went villain? I've been locked up too long," the villain muttered, some of his bluster gone.
"Well Aviarius, you did manage to swipe that oversized emerald. Cops never were able to find it."
"Well, it isn't where I left it. I did have the materials for something new." With a snap of a diamond tipped golden cane four beams of white light struck the four unconscious heroes. Seconds later, the four lights changed to the color corresponding to its target.
"…You stole their glows," Ron gasped, his voice fearful whisper.
"Indeed I have," Aviarius smiled. "And I'll have Shego's before the day's over."
Shego growled low in her throat. While she might not have much love for her brothers, she hated the idea of their powers being ripped from their body. "Oh, you'll have my power all right. I'll give you a plasma powered nose job."
"We shall see about that," he said tapping a keypad on his suit's left forearm. "I'm sending you coordinates now, if you're not there in an hour I'll send a flock of my robo-birds to blow up... well, I'll start with Go City General and pick another location, full of civilians, every ten minutes you're late."
Author's Notes: Yeah, nice little hiatus… I know, I fail at regular updates on an epic scale. Comments and reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated.