Sitch of a Wish
Chapter 6 - Power Outage
"Ifrit?" Kim whispered to Shego. She worried at how pale the green girl looked. Fear wasn't something she ever really expected to see there.
"They're similar to genies, but usually evil." The reddish-black smoke was fading now that the enemy had left it. Shego's eyes remained fastened on the ifrit. "This one hunts down other magical creatures to steal their powers. Last I knew, he was after my brothers, especially Hego."
"Well, that's not gonna happen." Kim watched the ifrit slowly advancing on them.
"Shego!" Avarius pointed his staff at her. "Surrender and this will go easier for you."
"Give it up, birdbrain." The genie shot back. "You've had no luck before, and that was just against my idiot brothers." She pointed to her companions. "I've upgraded."
"Mortals." The ifrit snorted. "Insects."
"Hardly." Shego flared her plasma. "Besides, I'm not exactly helpless either."
"Yes..." The crystal on his staff flashed and Shego gasped, faint lines of green streaming from her towards it. Her face contorted in pain. "All too easy."
"Stop it!" Kim shouted and leaped forward to attack Avarius. Her kick knocked the staff from his hands, sending it flying across the ground. The ifrit elbowed her, the impact far stronger than Kim expected. She huddled, trying to catch her breath and recover from the blow.
"I've had just about enough of you." Shego growled. "You've been trying to steal my family's powers for far too long." She lashed out, causing the ifrit to hiss in pain as her plasma-coated fist grazed his side. The ifrit tried to swat her out of the way so he could retrieve the staff, but the genie was able to get between him and it. He roared in frustration and tried to hit her again, once more missing as she leaped to the side and avoided the blow.
Kim managed to regain her feet and stumbled towards the fallen staff. The ifrit saw her movements and shouted. "No!"
"Keep it away from him, cupcake!" Shego called to her. "It's gotta be the source of his power."
"You will not have it!" Avarius surged forward, nearly knocking Shego over. Kim barely had time to jump back before he was next to her, reaching for the staff. His clawed hand closed over it. Kim had to struggle to maintain her grip. The two twisted and turned, each trying to wrench the staff free from the other.
Kim felt her fingers slipping and knew she couldn't hold on much longer. "Shego, I wish he could not touch the staff!"
"Granted!" The green girl's arms raised and her magic swirled.
"No! Impossible!" Avarius' fingers instantly released their grip on the staff, and Kim lurched back, stumbling and falling on her back with a whump and a puff of sand. The staff struck the ground and a bright light blazed from the crystal, lancing out and bathing Shego in a pale green glow. Kim could feel a tingling where she held the staff. The sensation quickly grew to a molten trail of fire working its way through her body. She cried out as the world faded...
"KP!" Ron watched his best friend cry in pain and fall to the ground, unconscious. He advanced on the ifrit, moving to flank with Shego as they tried to protect their fallen friend. The genie didn't look like she was doing that well either. Whatever the gem on the staff had done had hurt her too.
He lashed out, letting the monkey power flow freely. His kick sent Avarius flying backwards away from Kim and the staff. Landing lightly, he punched the ifrit, staggering the foe again. Shego unsteadily advanced as well, the genie working her way to the side so she could flank the enemy. When the ifrit turned to face the green girl, Ron surged forward, tackling Avarius.
The foe shoved him off with a stronger blow than Ron expected. Still, his monkey powers let him land lightly on his feet, and he was able to regain his fighting stance easily. "Shego, can you fry him or something?"
The genie winced. "I tried, it's not working. That staff must have done something to me."
"Snap... Any ideas then?"
"Keep hitting him. That monkey power is hurting him, and if we do enough damage, we'll drive him back to the magic realm." Shego glanced towards Kim. "We need to keep him away from her."
"Duh." The sandy haired boy launched a flurry of blows at the ifrit, each hit causing the evil being to roar in pain. The green girl also attacked, but her strikes did little without her plasma. Just when Ron thought they were going to get rid of the enemy for good, he leaped back with a powerful jump, landing on top of a nearby rock.
"This isn't over, Shego!" Avarius glared at her, his eyes flashing red. "I'll be back." He started to dissolve back into a cloud of red and black smoke. Ron hopped on the rock, but was too late, his kick passing harmlessly through the fading smoke. He tried to see where the ifrit was going, but the smoke disappeared without a trace. Not even his monkey powers let him sense where the enemy might be.
When he got down, Shego and the sultan were helping a dazed Kim sit up. Betty passed the redhead a small cup of water. "How do you feel, Kim?"
"...hurts..." Kim coughed. "What happened?"
"We drove him off, but I'm sure he'll be back. He's pretty persistent." Shego braced the shorter girl while she drank.
"So what happened? I feel really weird." The redhead looked around and spotted the staff still laying on the ground beside her. "I remember hitting the ground, then it felt like I was burning."
"Yeah, I think when you took it from him, something went wrong." The genie winced. "I'm not feeling right either. I think... I think it messed with my powers."
"Mr Stoppable, please pass me Kim's pack." The sultan gestured to where it was sitting.
He fetched it for her and watched as she swiftly retrieved the lamp from the bottom of the bag. When Shego glanced at her, she held up a hand to forestall the genie's comment. "Yes, I am well aware I only get three wishes. I have no intention of making more than one. I wish we knew exactly what happened to you and Miss Possible, as well as exactly how to fix it and return you two to your normal state of being."
"Granted!" Shego gasped out, her magic swirling around her slower than usual. With a thud, a large leather-bound book landed at the sultan's feet.
"Um..." Ron stared at it. "So not what I was expecting."
"Yes, I thought..." Betty frowned. "I assume this is typical of what happens?"
"Yeah, I was gonna warn you that wishes usually find a way to go wrong somehow." The green girl shrugged. "I guess you have your answers now."
"Yes, however we don't have the time to find them right now." The sultan packed the lamp and the book in Kim's bag and handed it back to her. "Keep those safe, Miss Possible."
"I will, Sultan." Kim promised.
"Mr Stoppable, were you able to follow this... Avarius?" Betty turned her attention to him.
"Not even with my monkey magic." Ron reported. "He turned to smoke and just faded. I don't even know which way he fled."
"Unfortunate." The older woman looked around. "We need to keep moving. I don't want to risk my brother sending out patrols and catching us here, especially now."
Yori twisted her wrists inside the cuffs. Had they been normal, she would have easily slipped them by now, but these were extremely well made. She flexed and relaxed, testing them to see if there was any weak spot. Unfortunately, with her hands behind her back, she couldn't see them and had to work by touch only. After a while, she settled on having to pick the lock. It took her much longer than usual, but since they hadn't found all her tools, she eventually pried one cuff off. Shortly after that, she removed the other one and the metal bands fell to the floor.
She rubbed feeling back into her wrists and took a quick tour of the room. She was being kept in a small room on the upper floor of a fort, probably the eastern one that was, as of the last report, occupied by Gemini. She listened at the door, and when she didn't hear anyone outside, went to work on the latch. She easily popped the lock and eased the door open.
Yori shut the door behind herself, locking it. With luck, no one would check on her until tomorrow, and by then she planned on being a long way from here. Her mother would certainly have sent Ron or Kim after Gemini, so all she needed to do was meet them along the way.
Boots sounded on the stairs at the end of the hallway, no doubt guards on patrol. She rapidly picked the lock of a nearby door and slipped inside.
"Um..." A younger boy stared at her. "Who are you and how did you get in here?"
Yori guessed he was about thirteen or so, and from the looks of his clothes, not to mention the fact that he'd been locked inside, he was probably another prisoner. Even if, looking around, his room was far nicer than hers. "I am Yori. I just escaped from the next cell over, I can take you with me if you like."
"I wish I could." The boy shook his head. "My name's Wade. I can't leave, not without my family."
"Gemini has them too?" She asked.
"Somewhere, yes. He makes me build things for him, and if I try to run..." He left the rest unsaid.
"It would be my honor to rescue them too." Yori promised grimly. "Gemini has a great deal to pay for."
"I don't know where he keeps them. I think inside this fort, but I'm not sure. I get to see my mother once a month, but he could easily have her kept in one of his other forts." Wade sorted through several of the scrolls, pulling a few out. A book joined them, then another. After several minutes, he had a tidy pile ready to go. When Yori looked askance at the bundle, he shrugged. "I can't leave these here for him."
Yori nodded and kept watch at the door. She waited for a few more minutes, letting a second guard patrol pass, then gestured for Wade to follow her. The pair set out into the fort, checking each room for signs of Wade's mother.
"Shego, I think... I think I need your help." Kim told her. The redhead had pulled her aside during their lunch break, and Shego had to admit she looked unwell. "I feel weird."
"What's wrong?" The genie asked her.
"I feel... hot all over. Like just under my skin is on fire." The shorter girl groaned. "It keeps building up. I can't hold it back."
"Oh snap." Shego felt a spike of dread. "If this is what I think it is, it's going to be bad. We need to do something to help you now. That staff must have worked, at least partially, because what you're saying sounds awfully similar to what I went through when my powers showed up."
"You mean I'm a genie now?" Kim asked, horrified.
"Nope, doesn't work that way, but you do seem to be showing signs of my plasma powers." The green girl hastened to reassure her. "I'll do what I can for you."
"Wait, your fire isn't part of being a genie?" The redhead asked.
"Doy, no." Shego looked around, but Ron was busy with their food and the sultan was reading that book that had appeared. "I guess I need to tell you, but don't tell the cyclops or the buffoon, okay?" She waited for Kim's nod. "Most genies aren't like this, they have the usual wish granting stuff, a dramatic entrance or two, and some standard 'make life better in small ways' spells. My brothers and I were that way too, until one day a comet landed in our backyard. When we woke up, we found it had changed us. Gave us all different powers."
"A comet just happened to land right next to your house and after that you started shooting fire?" Kim giggled.
"Look, it's called the magic realm for a reason." The genie replied, annoyed. "Anyway, it took us a while, but we learned what it did to us. We all got different powers, and mine happens to be plasma."
"And you think I have it now?"
"I think Avarius wanted to use that staff to take my comet powers. When you crashed down on the ground like that, you set it off. And since I can't seem to use it myself right now, I think you must have it." Shego sighed. "I hope the cyclops can dig some answers from that book, because I feel like part of me is missing."
"She will." Kim sounded certain.
"In the mean time, I can show you ways to deal with this. If you don't control it, you could hurt yourself or others. Does that sound good?"
"Please and thank you, Shego."
The genie sat on the ground and gestured for Kim to do the same. "First, I want you concentrate on that sensation of heat. Pull it through you, into your hands..."
"I believe I have located your mother, Wade-san." Yori spoke quietly to the younger boy. "I overheard several of the guards talking about a prisoner kept in the smaller storage building along the outer wall. From how they were speaking, that prisoner has been here for a long time now."
"Great!" Wade got up from the chair and joined her at the door. "We probably have an hour or so before they bring our dinner and notice we're not in our cells."
"Then we go now." The ninja checked the hall and slipped out the door. They quietly made their way out of the main building and waited for the patrol in the inner courtyard to move away before dashing across to the side building. There was only one guard on the door, and Yori quickly knocked him unconsious before he could call out an alarm. She took the key from his belt and opened the door. Inside the small room, an older woman sat on a rickety bed.
"Mom!" "Wade!" Yori winced at the noise, but she couldn't blame the two for their reunion. Wade ran in and hugged her, his mother returning it.
"Who's your friend?" Wade's mother asked after she finally stopped her hug.
"I'm Yori, I serve Sultan Betty. It is my honor to help you and your son escape." She bowed.
"This isn't one of Gemini's tricks?" She asked her son.
"No, she's for real. We're going home, Mom!" Wade smiled.
"Then let's not waste any time." She got up and the two of them walked over to join Yori. "Do you have a plan for getting us out of here, young lady?"
Yori pulled the rope out that she'd taken from one of the supply rooms. "We go over the wall. The patrols are very light, and they focus on the gates, so if we go over the side, we can avoid them easily. After that, we head west. The sultan will have sent someone after me, so we meet them and get you two to safety."
"Very well, I'll follow you. Thank you for saving us, young lady."
"It is my honor."
"How ya doing, KP?" Ron asked her as they waited for night to fall. They had reached the hills near the fort an hour earlier, but they wanted to wait for the cover of darkness before infiltrating Gemini's headquarters.
"I still feel weird." She admitted. "Shego showed me some stuff that helped, but it's..."
"Like part of you just isn't right?" Ron smiled sadly. "Trust me, right there with you."
"I'm so sorry, Ron, I didn't mean to remind you of that."
"It's fine. I might not like it, but if it helps me rescue Yori, then I guess I can live with it." He sighed. "Still... monkeys..."
"We'll fix it. We just need to get Yori back and capture Gemini, then it'll be over." Kim tried to sound optimistic. "Oh, and deal with Jack Hench, too."
The two fell silent for a while. "Kim, why don't you just wish and fix all this?"
"I... don't think I could, and even if I did, you know something else would just go wrong that we'd have to deal with." She looked away. "Besides, I don't like using Shego like that. It feels wrong, y'know?"
"She's a genie, Kim. It's pretty much her purpose. I mean, isn't it hurting her more that you're not making wishes? Like if someone said you couldn't go on missions. How would that feel?"
"It's not the same. I choose to go on missions because I want to, she doesn't have a choice, she has to grant wishes for whoever controls the lamp." She protested. "I don't like forcing her to do stuff. I..."
"What?" Ron asked when she didn't continue.
"It's not important." She waved it off, feeling her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
"KP, tell me, I know something's bothering you."
"I don't want to talk about it." The sense of shame got stronger... no, not shame... "Oh... snap..."
"Uh, Kim, are you sure you're all right? Cause you're sorta..." He waved a hand. "...glowing."
"I..." Kim tried to stand, the fire running through her hotter than before. She stumbled to the side, recoiling from Ron when he tried to help her. "No, don't touch me. I'm gonna..." She groaned and fell to her knees as green fire erupted from her fists. "Aaaaaahhhh!"
"Shego, we need ya, now!" Her best friend called.
"What's going... Doy! Get away from her!" The genie pulled him back. "She needs to calm down and let it settle." She turned her attention to the ailing redhead. "Kimmie, listen to me. Concentrate on my voice. I know it's completely opposite of what you're feeling right now, but you need to calm down. Relax." The green girl stepped forward, reaching out to her, her voice remaining even. "The fire is yours, you control it, you can draw it back down."
The green flames continued to dance and flare around her hands as Kim tried to back away from Shego, but the genie kept up her slow advance. "Pull it back into yourself. It won't hurt you unless you let it, but you need to take control of it." Kim gulped and stopped backing up, focusing on what Shego was saying. "That's it. You're calm, at peace. You can relax. Let it sink back where it belongs."
The redhead took a deep breath and staggered, falling against Shego. She felt the taller girl's arms wrap around her, holding her while she struggled to catch her breath. She stood there for a while, Shego letting her regain her composure. "So pumpkin, I guess you finally managed to activate my plasma. Any idea what set it off?"
"Uh..." Kim's voice dropped to a whisper. "I sorta... gotembarrassed..."
"You..." The genie giggled. "That is too funny."
"Shego!" Kim hissed.
Yori scouted ahead, checking for any patrols in the canyons. She hadn't spotted any, and she didn't really expect to. Gemini didn't have enough troops to send out and cover all the approaches to the fort. Still, she hoped to put some more distance between their small party and the fort. Despite the fading light, she intended to cover a few more miles before they finally camped for the night.
She heard movement up ahead from behind a bend in the path. She eased her way forward, staying to the shadows as best she could. She spotted a figure up ahead, watching from behind a nearby rock. She snuck around behind the shape and grabbed the waiting person, surprising them.
The man gasped and slid an arm up, breaking her grip and tossing her back. Yori landed lightly on her feet and spun to face... "Ron-san!"
"Yori?" He asked.
"You are here?" Relief flooded her.
"Well yeah, of course I did." He grinned at her and she returned it. "We set out as soon as we got control back of the palace. How did you make it out anyway?"
"The most dishonorable lord has inferior locks." She told him, and he had the grace to look embarrassed at that. "I should be the one asking you how it is you dealt with the giant dog. That seems a bit more unusual."
"Yori, is everything-" Before he could answer, Wade's voice whispered from nearby then cut off when he saw Ron near her.
"Excuse me, Ron-san. I shame myself. I forgot my companions." She started in the direction she'd heard Wade, but waved for Ron to stay put. "Please, give me a moment to explain to them. They were prisoners of Gemini's for months."
She caught up to Wade easily enough and explained the situation to the short boy and his mother. The two of them were relieved to find out that they'd been rescued by the sultan's forces, and accompanied Yori back to the rock, where she introduced them to Ron. "Is Kim here too?"
"Yeah, she's with Shego and the sultan back at camp." He informed her.
"The sultan came here as well?" She asked, amazed.
"Yup, she left Captain Du in charge back at the palace. We're gonna take down Gemini once and for all." Ron nodded. "So we're all here, and now that you're here, we're gonna finish this."
"You guys really are going to arrest Gemini?" Wade asked him.
"Oh yeah, it's long overdue." The sandy haired boy agreed. He led them back to the camp where further introductions followed. Wade and his mother were suitably impressed with meeting the sultan and Kim, while Shego was a source of curiousity, especially to the scholarly boy.
Once everyone had been caught up on the basics of the situation, it was time to decide the next steps. Sultan Betty agreed to stay back with Wade and his mother while Kim, Ron, Yori and Shego infiltrated Gemini's fort and took down the renegade.
"Good luck you four." The sultan watched them head out in the direction of the fort.
Yori led them towards Gemini's base and they soon reached the edge of the clearing around it. "We should go over the wall on the northwest side. He has very few troops left after his misadventure in the palace, and most of them are busy guarding the gates. Once inside, we will have cover to the main building. I only spotted one regular patrol, so we should be able to find Gemini and deal with him quietly."
"Sounds good." Kim eyed the fort. "Are there any special defenses we need to watch out for?"
"Wade says no. He purposely included flaws in most of the items Gemini forced him to build while he was held prisoner. If we encounter anything 'special', let me deal with it. He told me how to disable them."
"Please and thank you." The redhead replied.
Yori waited until the other girl went over to talk with Shego before pulling Ron aside. "Is Kim-san well? She looks... not herself."
"We kinna had a small problem on the way, but she's dealing with the sitch." He assured her. "Shego's helping her, and the sultan has a book on how to fix it."
"Very well." She resolved to keep an eye on her friend during the mission anyway. She caught Ron's hand as he moved to join the other two girls. "Thank you, Ron. For coming after me."
"Ah... always, Yori... I mean, Princess Yori!" He stammered, his face red. "Sorry, kinna forgot."
"Just call me Yori." She smiled softly at him and he returned it.
Jack Hench lounged in his throne, his face carefully neutral. He studied his visitor while he considered the offer before him. "You understand, this is certainly a first for me, but if what you tell me is true, I'd be more than happy to work with you. And you're sure this is all you ask in return?"
His guest nodded.
"Then we have a deal. I have the perfect agent to neutralize Kim Possible, if you can handle the genie." He held out his hand. "I must say, I look forward to having my own genie."
"You will have Shego only after I have taken her fire." Avarius growled, his red eyes blazing and black smoke swirling around his feet. "Once I have that, you will have her lamp."
Next Chapter: Gemini gets dealt with, but new problems arise.
A/N 1: So yeah, Kim ends up with Shego's plasma powers, at least temporarily. Wade might be able to find some answers in the book, if nothing else goes wrong in the meantime...
And Yori rescues herself, as well as Wade. Ninja!
A/N 2: For those who have asked, this will probably end up around 10-13 chapters total. As always, thanks to everyone for reading it!