I do not own the Disney characters named herein, and am only using them for a nonprofit tale meant to entertain only.
Kim Possible: Rogue
By LJ58
5
The shadow moved like lightning.
Slipping between tall, wide posts, it moved so swiftly that it went unseen. By the time anyone turned around to look, the shade was already gone.
Cold, green eyes narrowed on the door before her as the woman now boldly stepped forward, and flexed literal talons as those hands began to glow an ominous green. It was just quiet enough in the darkness around her that the rare, faint crackle and hum of the plasma discharge was just audible enough to hear for a change.
She drove both hands into the locking mechanisms that connected the two, steel panels, and tugged out, and back.
Not as strong as her muscle-bound brother, Shego was still able to use her plasma to amp her strength by a factor of five when necessary.
It was more than enough.
The door gave way as the locking bar and mechanism was literally melted, and fell apart even as the green-skinned woman in a skintight suit gave a faint grunt as the two, heavy panels opened at her unyielding tug. She stared into the vault-like chamber beyond, and stepped boldly into the room.
Five, blinding beams of light erupted from each side of the room. Ten in all. All trained on her.
The sounds of multiple weapons arming, and safeties being thrown filled the air around her like staccato thunder.
"You really want to play this game," Shego asked in a cold, ominous tone as she blinked against the glare "Because, I'm warning you now, I am finished playing with you boys. You get in my way….."
"Fire," an unseen man commanded.
"Have it your way," Shego spat, racing across the room faster that most could track. Bright green fire flashed around the chamber, and one-by-one, the lights went out. Sometimes accompanied by the howl of a victim in the way of the exploding plasma she launched.
Bullets fired with a nonstop rhythm, but not one projectile got near her. Those few that did vaporized before contact as she amped her body temperature so high even her plasma-proof costume began to smolder somewhat.
Then the firing stopped, and only man was still on his feet.
Shego walked up to the man in Henchco black, the new uniform of the new elite, and glowered at him.
"You told them to fire on me."
"I have my orders," the big man spat, and would have tried something else, if both his hands weren't so scorched he couldn't even hold a weapon just then.
"So do I," Shego growled, and punched him so hard his jawbone snapped in three places as he went flying to impact with the door behind him, crashing through it before he skid across the floor to land in a sprawling heap.
She walked into the dimly antechamber that led to a long corridor.
At the end, she punched through a false wall, and stepped into an ornate office.
"Welcome, Shego," Jack Hench smiled.
She growled, but then the man….glitched.
"Unfortunately, I'm not here. My hologram, however, is real enough to tell you that we expected you. So, just for you, I rolled out the red carpet. My best troopers to warm you up, and…..two dozen micro-mines just activated to see you off. You have five seconds to run, but... Oops, too late," the holographic projection laughed even as Shego turned to bolt from the office.
KP
"Dr. Director. We just got word of another explosion."
"In Middleton?"
"No, ma'am. St. Louis. The entire public branch for Henchco, Inc. just went up in flames. Witnesses heard gunfire, and sounds of fighting before the explosion."
"Who….?"
"They also reported seeing…..green fire."
"Shego," Dr. Director frowned. "Why was she attacking Henchco?"
"No clue," the agent told her. "Frankly, we haven't been able to ascertain what she's doing, or why. Let alone for who."
"I don't suppose we've heard from any of our teams? Or Wade?"
"Not as yet."
Wade, she knew, had gone out of the building to reroute his wireless hack so it couldn't be traced back to Global Justice.
She suspected it was also because he was leery of any moles that might still be on site. She couldn't blame him. She just hoped he found something they could use. So far, what little they had found only piled on the questions, and left them as confused as ever. If not more so.
"Any word on Hench? I doubt Jack was present if he saw Shego coming. He doesn't strike me as the kind to risk himself."
"No word, ma'am," the agent told her. "The last confirmed sighting put him in St. Louis."
"Which likely drew Shego, for whatever reason. Only it leaves us scratching our heads again," she complained.
"Yes, ma'am."
Betty nodded, then rose from her desk.
"Get our local office to tap every traffic, atm, and area cam in that neighborhood. I want every inch of footage they have for the past….ten days."
"Ten days," the agent frowned.
"You can bet Shego didn't go in there blind. Let's see if we can find out where she's been. And then maybe we'll finally figure out where she's going."
"You think she survived the explosion?"
Dr. Director stared at the man as if he might be an imbecile.
"Yes, ma'am," he sputtered. "I'll send the request at once."
"Demand, Agent Waters. I'm not asking them. I'm telling them. I want that footage. Now."
KP
Ron felt more than a little uncomfortable when he knocked on the Possibles' door later that night. He had paused to change his clothes first. He didn't think showing up in ragged, and scorched ninja gear would have set the right tone.
He had only been in town a few days, but there was a time when Kim's house would have been his first stop.
Only it wasn't really her house any longer. She was grown, and gone, and….missing.
He sighed, and knocked again.
The door finally opened, and he gave a wan smile as Dr. Anne Possible opened the door.
"Hey, Mrs. Dr. P," he greeted her like old times. "Could I see your husband?"
"James…? Oh, sure. How have you been, Ron? I didn't know you were back home."
"Just got in this week. It's been a little crazy," he told her as she led him into the house that really hadn't changed much.
Well, obviously there was some new furniture. Some of it with scorch marks.
He could guess why.
"How have you been?"
"Do you know….? Kim….? She disappeared."
"I heard," he told her. "I've been asked to try to find her."
Anne Possible looked miserable. He could tell she wanted to hope. He could tell she likely still remembered him as the buffoon, too.
Just as well.
"Dr. Possible," he said, walking over to where James Possible was reading his evening paper, looking far more gray, and slumped than usual.
"Ronald," the rocket scientist greeted him, actually putting the paper down. "To what do we owe this unexpected visit?"
"You've got trouble, Dr. Possible," he told him bluntly, and simply stood beside him.
"What now," the man asked, obviously hesitant to ask of late from the way he sounded.
"Have you heard of Viper?"
"That new car they're selling?"
Ron grimaced.
"No, sir. An international assassin. He's apparently targeting one of your scientists at the MSC. We believe the hit may be tomorrow….."
"Dr. Romanski? Why would anyone want to hurt him?"
"Free energy would irk a lot of people. And corporations. Still, I don't know the details. I only know they're after him."
"Well, now, Ronald, we have the best security…."
"Viper could crack it. He may already have insiders in place."
"I see. So, why are you here again," Dr. Possible asked him firmly.
"Because I'd like you to take me with you tomorrow as a civilian guest," he told him. "GJ is going to run external security, but we don't think it will be enough. I need to be close, just in case. Inside."
"You….?"
"Yes, sir. You see," he said, glancing around. "The past four years….."
"I know you've been in school, Ronald, but…."
"Ninja school, Dr. P," he told him. "I'm a bona fide, sword-carrying ninja. And I need to be there in order to stop any assassination attempt."
"You really think you can….?"
"Would you like to stay for supper, Ron," Anne Possible came out just then. "It's just us at the moment, and you'd be more than welcome."
"Just….?" He looked around. "What about the boys?"
"They're in college now. MIT. Special enrollment," she said. "I'm glad they're doing well, in spite of their age, but….it's awfully quiet around here lately," she added with a wistful sigh. "Not the same at all."
"I'd be happy to stay, if you really don't mind."
"Not at all. Not at all," James told him, and folded his paper. "And you can tell me more about this….ninja school. I don't suppose Kimmie-cub….?"
"No. she wasn't there, Dr. P. Dr. Director told me about her, though. Once we make sure this killer goes down, I think I'll be looking into that one myself. Something doesn't sound quite kosher about the whole thing."
Anne stared hard at him.
"Do you really think you could help," she finally asked.
"Dr. P. Doctors," he glanced from one to the other. "There's a lot about my school I can't talk about. But….I can tell you, I have learned a lot. And I have made a lot of….special connections. If there is any trail, we'll find it. I can promise you that. I'll find out what happened to Kim."
Anne smiled in genuine warmth only then.
"I hope you can, Ron. It's the not knowing that kills us."
"I can understand that," he nodded. "Mom knew about me, but she was still a little antsy about us."
"Us?"
He glanced at James Possible, and sighed.
"Well, the truth is, my sister is kind of a ninja, too."
"Runs in the family, huh," Anne smiled again.
"You could say that. So, let me call my folks, and tell them not to expect me, and I'm all yours. Say, would you like some help in the kitchen, Mrs. P? I also graduated from a very fine cooking school, and have a lot of killer recipes in mind just now."
"I think I have it covered," Anne smiled a little more. "Maybe next time?"
"That'd be great," he nodded, and pulled out his cell phone to dial home.
KP
Shego drummed her fingers as she sat by the bed in a lumpy chair, waiting for the phone on the table to ring.
It had been four hours since she had blazed on that deathtrap Hench meant for her, and it said something that Jack was willing to burn down his own house, with a lot of his own people inside, just to get her.
"We're getting closer," she murmured. "Have to be."
The phone finally rang, and she jerked it up before the first ring finished.
"I'm guessing you already know how it went," she growled.
She listened for a moment, and then swore before slamming the phone down.
"Jerk. You're still a jerk."
Shego rose from the chair, stood beside the window to one side to peer out behind the lowered shades. The lights were off in the room, but she didn't like taking chances. Not when half the world knew your face, and wanted you dead.
Of course, that would be harder to pull off than most realized.
Maybe the harpy knew just how tough she really was when it came down to it.
She had helped found Team GO back in the day, after all. If she had known what that meant from the start, she would have likely poked the woman's other eye out.
Bitch.
She'd sacrifice anyone, or anything to get the job done. She certainly didn't hesitate to toss a handful of naïve kids into the grinder just to see what came out. She only learned that after the fact, that Bets intended to find out what they were made of before slyly influencing them to train and prepare for lives as elite Global Justice agents.
Only somewhere along the line, a few monkey wrenches got tossed into the work.
For one, her brothers really were idiots.
Then Shego bailed on the team to find her own way.
And while the boys were great at punching posers and purse-snatchers, they weren't exactly overqualified in the brains department. Case-in-point, Aviarius. Who let your arch foe know your name and number? Seriously, the man was a real, complete loon.
Aviarius, too.
Then there was Mego's ego. The twins who refused to grow up even now.
In the end, Team GO was written off, and GJ defunded them.
It didn't keep her brother from trying to keep up his heroics. Well, she had seen firsthand how well that went. Potentially unlimited comet powers, and Hego punched losers, and still worked in fast food. Yeah, cue the eye roll.
Shego learned fast to look out for number one.
It was a lesson she learned quick, and took to heart. Of course, if it was all about the cash, she could have retired years ago several times over in absolute luxury.
She realized she wanted more.
A lot more.
And for once, she intended to get it.
This was about more than thrills.
More than a quick payday.
Even more than stabbing a very big thumb in a lot of eyes.
Although all of that was involved, there was something more.
She had a debt to pay. And she always, without exception, paid her dues.
Always.
As Jack Hench was going to find out once she found where he had gone to ground this time. Because if he thought a few micro-mines were going stop her, he had a major lesson coming.
KP
Will was obviously wrung-out, and beyond weary when he came into the headquarters late that night.
"Sorry I couldn't contact you, ma'am," the dour agent told her as two other agents led a limping Dash toward the infirmary. "They hit us with a mini-EMP trying to shut down any of our tech before we got away."
"They spotted you?"
"They weren't military, ma'am. They were elite Henches. The Bunker was filled with them. An army of them. All training with military-grade weapons. All of them outfitted with rail weapons, and blue lasers."
Dr. Director frowned.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I wish we knew."
"You couldn't reach your targets?"
"They were too well protected. We couldn't access their panic room, and….I did mention the private army? We barely got out alive."
"So, on top of everything else, we have Henches openly working inside the most top secret military HQ in the world?"
"Apparently," Will said. "And they were shooting to kill. If it weren't for the new personal shields Wade incorporated into our field packs, we wouldn't have made it out."
"This is going too far," Dr. Director murmured, looking bleak.
"What about the Science Center?"
"Stoppable will go in with Dr. Possible. I want you, if you're up to it, ready to organize the patrols outside the perimeter in the morning."
"A few hours rest, and I'll be fine," he assured her. "I'm sorry we couldn't get the information you wanted, Dr. Director. I have the feeling…."
"They knew you were coming," she said more than asked.
"Right down to the secret underground passage we used."
"Looks like our Phoenix Protocols are not enough. Time to get proactive, Will."
"How?"
Betty stood up, and looked around her office.
"I'll tell you at our usual place at 0500 in the morning. Until then, get some rest."
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, and turned to go.
They both paused as they heard a faint rushing of air, and knew someone was coming in on a vacuum tube.
"We weren't expecting….."
"Down," Will shouted, shoving her behind her secretary's desk even as a wall panel opened, but inside of a body, three, grapefruit sized orbs rolled out.
An instant later, the entire office exploded around them.
To Be Continued…..