Chapter 2: Ever lasting damage
A loud bang could be heard from the courtyard, anyone new to the palace would think they where under attack. Another loud bang, Ron walked the corridors looking for the source. He saw a familiar face at the other end of the hall. Bonnie was standing in front of a window looking down on an interesting scene. "Hey Bonnie what's all the noise?" Bonnie looked over at him and smiled wordlessly pointing out the window.
Down below Kim could be seen running from blasts of plasma. She dodged and weaved past trees and pillars. Shego chased her every step throwing plasma blasts at the red head. "Come on Kimmie! You gotta pick up the pace I may not miss one of these times." Kim ran around a tree and Shego followed only to see the girl had disappeared. Shego walked around the tree looking lost.
"How does she do that?" Ron asked to no one in particular. "It's like she and disappear into thin air or something." Bonnie shook her head. "No, no one can do that. It's more speed and timing. I bet she's in the tree waiting to make her next move." Ron looked at Bonnie for a moment. She only looked down at the scene.
Shego stood quietly listening for any noise in the trees. Nothing seemed to be moving; she blasted a few shots of plasma into the tree. Nothing happened; she looked through the burning leaves of the tree above her. "Damn." She said under her breath dowsing her hands. Kim saw her chance and took a dive off the branch she had perched herself on, Shego turned and caught Kim in mid air. Kim yelped as she was flipped to the ground. "You need to work on your stealth." Shego said with a wide grin.
Ron and Bonnie looked at each other. "Are they fighting?" Ron asked in a fearful tone. Bonnie shook her head. "No I think this is a game to them." She looked back at the courtyard. "You think they would shoot the messenger?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest. Bonnie's smile faded. "How bad is the news?" Ron didn't answer, his silence said everything. She nudged him toward the stairs. "You should tell them before the problem gets worse." Ron nodded and made his way down the steps toward the courtyard.
888
"Umm…Kim…Shego?" Ron asked nervously when he entered the courtyard. Kim and Shego sat under a near by tree. "What is it Ron?" Shego asked in a clearly annoyed tone. Ron nearly jumped and cleared his throat. "Bad news." He said feeling his voice crack; they were silent for a moment. "Well?" Shego pressed angrily. "The cold fusion plant in Russia has been attacked by the resistance." Kim's face fell. "What?" Confusion and rage suddenly built up inside of her. "Why would they attack the plant? It was put there to help the people!"
Shego put a comforting arm around Kim's shoulders. "Calm down you're gonna have an aneurism." She whispered in Kim's ear before turning her attention to Ron. "What's the damage?" Ron straightened up as much as he could. "They damaged a few walls and took a key component to the cold fusion process. The plant can't run without it." Shego glanced back at Kim. The read head looked livid. "So this is can be fixed right?" Ron nodded. "Repairs have already started. They say the replacement component will take a month to find."
Kim sighed making an attempt to stand and vent her anger, Shego held her in place. "So what? Until they get the component Russia has no power?" Ron shook his head. "Only the section of Russia the plant is in. None of the other plants were attacked." Shego nodded in understanding.
"Get whoever is in that section out of there before they freeze to death. Put them in the sections with power supply them with everything they will need until the plant is running again; and upgrade the security in the other plants I don't want to have to deal with this again." Ron rushed out of the courtyard. Shego looked back at the fuming red head. "Kimmie? It's gonna be okay. Just breath." Kim crossed her arms and gave Shego a cold stare. Shego gave a weak smile.
"I don't understand why they would do it." Kim looked on the verge of tears, Shego's smile faded quickly. Kim hid her face in her hands. Shego gave a heavy sigh. "There is only one thing I can think of…they want to weaken you." Kim gave her a puzzled look. "Think about it. No one outside of the palace knows I'm back yet. They know you have a weak spot for the people, so in order to weaken you they have to attack your weakness." Kim let out and angry noise, she had never felt so angry in her life.
"It's going to become war Princess, like it or not, innocent people may die if this resistance wants it bad enough." Kim was shaking with anger now, she couldn't breathe her vision started to blur. "So we announce your return, they'll see it's pointless to keep hurting innocent people." Shego shook her head solemnly. Kim could barely keep herself together.
"No we can't do that yet. If we announce my return now they'll attack the palace, not just the civilians. With as weak as I still am they could kill me and then who knows what they would do to you. We have to sit on this one Kim; it's for your protection and mine." Shego's words had little affect on Kim's anger. "So we just sit back and watch innocent people suffer?"
Kim was on edge she wished this was all some elaborate joke. Someone was going to come out laughing claming they had gotten her. After a long moment of silence nothing happened, no one popped out from behind a tree laughing. No one said it was all a joke. No one said anything for a long time, until Shego spoke. "We'll find a way out of this, until then we'll do everything in our power to help the people ok?" Kim seemed to calm down at these words.
There wasn't much point in storming around the palace venting anger over this. She needed to stay calm and not let them get to her. Kim stood and took several deep breaths before looking down at Shego. "You think you can go one more match while we can still get one in?" Shego stood and smiled broadly. "I'm always up for a good fight." Kim laughed. "You'd have to catch me first." She replied and dashed out of the courtyard. Shego ignited her hands and chased after her, laughter and explosions echoed through out the palace.
Bonnie watched the entire scene; she turned to leave when she walked into an unlikely obstacle. "Hello Bonnie." Monique stood in Bonnie's way, staring down at her as she always did. "Monique." Bonnie replied slipping around her and heading down the corridor. "Bonnie what where you looking at?" Monique called back to her. Bonnie turned and gave Monique her classic glare.
"Nothing you need to worry about." She said turning back and walking away. Monique pursed her lips in anger. Ever since she had been allowed back into the palace she had lost her position and all trust she had with her friends. She wanted to kick herself for doing something so stupid, Kim even had the heart to let her back into the palace.
"Hey Monique. Have you seen Kim and Shego? I need to talk to them." Monique was pulled from her train of thought and turned to see Ron. "Ron you know I haven't seen them." Shego hadn't been happy when she found out Monique was in the palace again. Monique had since made it a point to avoid Shego at all costs.
"Okay, okay. I'll just go ask Bonnie." Monique stopped him from walking away.
"What's going on?"
"I really don't think I can tell you Monique."
"Well maybe I can help."
"I really don't have a lot of time for this I have to find Kim and Shego."
"Well do you want any help?" She looked hopeful.
"No you're probably busy, but I'll see you around Monique." Ron walked away before Monique could respond.
She was once again left alone in the empty corridor. She felt a slight jolt of anger and loneliness surge through her before she calmed herself. "I brought this on myself; I have to deal with the consequences." She shifted her weight from one foot to another felling useless standing alone in the corridor. She sighed and headed down the corridor. "Maybe I can find something to do in the city."