Dun, da, da dun! Here it is ladies and gentlemen, Rose of the Night Chapter 4 Into Shadow. I was going to wait till next week, but changed my mind.

Please R&R. I welcome anonymous reveiws.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. Disney does.

EDIT: Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta reading.

"Oh, shoot," Rose thought as she watched the countdown timer reach zero. Alarms began to blare, and she could hear a recording of her voice ringing out over the P.A. system.

"Detonation in twenty seconds. Myself, if you're still in here, it was good knowing you."

Rose grimaced. "Never thought I would actually be around to hear that." Quickly glancing around her, she smashed through a door to her right. A rectangular metal object resembling a fridge labeled Heat Resistant Shego-proof Chamber caught her attention. She dashed over to it, yanked the door open, and hurried in. Just after she sealed the door behind her, a jolt rocked the chamber and she abruptly lost consciousness.

-KP-

Ten seconds before.

Up above, Shego helped a groggy Kim into the Global Justice hover-jet. She turned to Agent Red.

"You go ahead and get Kimmie to a hospital. I'm gonna do some scouting."

"Might that have something to do with the person Agent Garfield spotted earlier?"

Shego frowned. "Stow the curiosity. You'll find out soon enough."

Red narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me, but I'm in charge of this operation. That means I call the shots."

"Oh yeah?" Shego replied, igniting her plasma. "You want to back that up?"

The agent prepared answer, but was cut off by the loud roar of an explosion and an intense blast of heat, which threw both her and Shego to the ground. A shock wave rippled through the island and clouds of black smoke rose into the air. When the chaos subsided, Shego stood up and surveyed her surroundings. A good half of the island had been demolished and she was surprised they had survived.

"I wonder if this was Rose's idea of a practical joke," she thought. Red stepped beside her.

"Do I want to know why someone would do this?"

Shego let out a discouraged sigh, something unusual for her. "I don't know myself. She's very unpredictable."

"Okay," Red practically shouted, "I am sick of your vagueness. Who is She?"

Instead of replying, Shego stared into the distance, lost in thought. She shook herself and looked at Red. "Our worst nightmare."

-KP-

Kim sat in the back of the hover-jet, looking at her hand. She wasn't sure what had happened to it, but it looked like belonged on some kind of freakish monster. The skin had become tough and blackened, and pus oozed out every time she moved it. Kim nearly retched at the sight. She was also rather worried.

"I just doesn't make sense. There is no way that she and I are equally matched, even if she is my clone." A sliver of doubt ran through her mind. "Could she possibly have just been feeling me out? Seeing how strong I was? No, it couldn't be. I must not be operating a hundred percent, that's all" However, the nagging feeling refused to leave Kim's mind, and she knew that she had given her all in that fight.

She glanced up as Shego and a green-haired woman in GJ uniform stepped into the craft. Shego walked over to her to check on her hand. One glance was all she needed.

"Well Princess, looks like you bit off more than you could chew. Does it hurt?"

"Actually, I can't even feel it."

Shego nodded. "That's what I thought. Now if we can't get that fixed within forty-eight hours, it'll be permanent."

"Do you know how to fix it?"

"No. Only Rose does."

Kim scowled as she remembered the doppelganger that had defeated her. "She was using a red mist. What exactly was it?"

"An highly dangerous acid. The interesting thing is, it only effects living tissue."

Kim was silent for a minute. "Why did you guys never tell me about her?"

Shego sighed. "That was Drakken's idea. He claimed that he wanted to use Rose as a 'secret weapon.' I think he was afraid that you would talk her into switching sides."

"That's still no reason to not tell me."

"I know. Look, there's something else you should know. Rose is very unusual."

Kim snorted. "No kidding. She said she wanted to play against me in a video game. Said something about evening the odds."

"Another one of her infamously ridiculous jokes. I assure you there was never the intention of playing you. I bet she doesn't even have a console. The only thing she does worse than video games is cook."

"Then there are least two things we have in common, other than looks."

"That, however, is where the similarity ends." An unusual look crept over Shego's features. "Rose was designed for combat. She is a weapon, not to mention an unstable one. I'm surprised she didn't kill you on the spot."

"She might have killed me?" Kim asked in surprise. "What makes you think that?"

"The past."

"You mean?" A sickening feeling ran through Kim's gut at the thought that something with her face would stoop so low as to take a life.

"Yes, I do. Rose has killed several people and nearly killed many others, including myself. I told Mr. Genius that she was too dangerous, but he refused to listen. Then, he launched his Diablo plan. When you and the doofus were tied up in the storage room, Rose decided she was going to pay you a visit, despite Drakken's protests. But by the time she got there, you were already upstairs fighting us. I haven't seen her since."

Kim nodded, noting that Shego was not her usual sarcastic self. She actually looked, impossible as it seemed, upset.

"Right now Kimmie, you just rest. I have some thinking to do."

-KP-

That evening, a sleek, black Cessna 172 Skyhawk floatplane flew over the half-destroyed island which had once been the site of Drakken's lair. The pilot hummed the hallelujah chorus as he glanced over his private plane's controls. Moments later, the cockpit was filled with light as a bright red flare arched by.

"How rude! Guess it's worth investigating," he thought to himself and prepared the aircraft for landing.

-KP-

Rose holstered her flare gun, and took another look at her arm. Thanks to the heat resistant chamber, she'd been saved from being roasted alive, but the shock of impact had fractured her arm and smashed the Kimmunicator. Upon regaining consciousness, Rose had found herself choking on the water which was rapidly rising in the chamber. Realizing she didn't have much time left, she had kicked the latch open and floated out of the sinking chamber. Escaping from the one sticky sitch had then left struggling to stay afloat in the treacherous waters, with one arm broken. Fortunately, the currents had swept back her on shore. Then, she heard a plane flying overhead and promptly fired a flare. She watched as the plane began its descent, wondering who was piloting it. When the plane landed on the water, she pulled her flare gun back out out and fired a flare at the ground about twelve feet away. The seaplane taxied over to her position and its door opened.

"Well hurry up," a male voice called, "I can't stay all day. Have a very busy schedule you know." Rose waded over to the plane and the pilot reached his hand down to help her up. Once they were in the cockpit, he flipped the overhead lights on. Rose sized up her rescuer. He wore all-black clothes which you would associate with a secret agent and a carefully tailored jacket of the same color. His slicked-back black hair was mostly concealed by an officer's cap loaded with more gold embellishing than Rose thought possible to fit on one hat. Two audacious black eyes peered from beneath the brim and nicely complimented his impertinent grin. He twirled his black mustache and tipped his hat with exaggerated gallantry.

"Exhilarated to meet you, Ma'am."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Quite exhilarating Mr..."

"Chief executive officer Captain Mercer," he replied, shaking her right hand. "Nice meeting you."

"Ouch! Watch it! That's the arm I broke."

"How was I supposed to know you'd broken it?" Mercer asked in mock offense.

"Uh, the fact that it was limply hanging by my side should have said something. Ugh, whatever." She thought for a moment. "What are you chief executive officer of?"

Mercer struck a pose. (Or at least as well as you can in an airplane cabin) "The Shadow Agents! We're a top top top secret elite organization for- oh no. I'm opening my mouth too wide again. Boss will kill me. He really expects his chief executive officer to have more discretion."

"Boss?"

"Boss is the leader of our organization. Speaking of discretion, I hope we can count on yours, Miss Possible."

"Actually, I'm not Kim. The name's-"

"Rose. Rose Imelda Possible, if I remember correctly." The man interrupted. "We learn things, you know. That's the upside of being a secret organization. We probably know more about you than you do. Which means Boss must know more about me than I do! Aah! Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked."

"Okay," Rose thought, barely hiding her surprise. "It's official. I'm freaked. This guy knows way too much."

She turned to Mercer. "Listen, I need to get this arm fixed up, and a place to spend the night. If you can help me with either of those, I'd be much obliged."

"It would be my pleasure. But don't you think you're being a little quick to assume that I'm here to help? I am, of course, but there are plenty of people who wouldn't be, even within my own organization."

"Well, I figure that if you were gonna pull a fast one on me, you would have already done it. Then, there's the fact that, in the past, people who try to harm me usually end up on the ground screaming for mercy."

"In that case, I'd better hustle. One Shadow Agent medical facility coming right up." Mercer flipped off the overhead lights and prepared for liftoff.

-KP-

On the peak of Mount Yamanouchi in Japan, a blond-haired young man sat completely still, his eyes closed. He meditated, trying to find his inner clam, as Sensei had called it. Right now, he felt like it was playing a great big game of hide and seek with him. He closed his eyes and tried thinking of nacos. That didn't help. Then, a voice called out to him through the silence.

"Ron!" Kim's voiced echoed in his head, sounding distant and empty.

Ron's eyes flew open. "Kim?" There was no answer. He scrabbled to his feet, slipped on a loose stone, and began to tumble down the mountainside. Face planting on an rocky outcropping, he looked up to see Yori standing over him.

"How goes it, Stoppable-san?"

Ron grunted and stood up, more carefully this time. "Oh, uh, just fine."

Yori laughed. "Oh, Stoppable-san. You and your American style buffoonery."

"Yeah, that." Ron sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he could not seem to get rid of the clumsiness that seemed to come so naturally to him. Sensei had told him finding his 'inner calm' might help, but so far he was having no success.

He glanced up into the sky and frowned. "Will you leave me alone?"

Yori was surprised. Normally Ron didn't ask questions like that. What was even more disturbing was the slight hint of bitterness in his voice. It was not natural for him.

"Are you sure your all right?"

Ron didn't answer.

"Stoppable-san?"

Ron shook himself looked at her. "Sorry, vision again." Recently he had been receiving these unusual visions which seemed to foretell some doom he was supposed to stop. However, this one had been very clear. Something had either happened or would soon happen to Kim.

"Yori, I need a ride home, now."

-KP-

Rose felt the water flow into her mouth and nose, starting to suffocate her. Every time she took a breath, more water would rush in. She tried desperately to break the the restraints that were immobilizing her, but the pirates had done their job well. The chains refused to budge and she wondered how much longer she would be able to hold her breath. As she sank deeper into the ocean, her last breath gave out and she lost her grip on consciousness.

Rose awoke from her dream with a start to find herself drenched with water. Pulling her soaked hair out of her face, she glared at Mercer, who stood over her with a empty bucket in his hand..

"Do you always wake up your guests by dumping water on them?" she asked, irritated.

"Only when five alarm clocks fail to wake them up."

"Did you actually set off five alarm clocks?" Rose asked suspiciously.

Mercer indicated the collection on the table beside her bed. "Standard new agent treatment. Or, in this case, a guest."

Standing up, Rose picked up the sling hanging by the door and put it on. "Well, you can just be thankful I still don't have full use of my arm. I don't know if your little bank of secrets has this bit of information, but I hate being woken up."

"I should think you'd be very grateful, seeing as we have extended every other courtesy to you."

"True," Rose thought to herself. When she and Mercer had arrived at Shadow Agent Headquarters the previous night, dutiful medical staff had rushed her off to sickbay and treated her arm. From what she understood, they had fused the broken bone back together, but still suggested that she use a sling.

"Now, while I have few minutes to spare, would you like a tour of the facility?"

Rose reflected for a minute. "Might as well," she thought. "These guys could potentially become enemies, so it might be nice to know the layout."

"Sure," she replied.

"All right. We'll start with the deep, dark, secret of our success. We could not survive without it. And admission is not granted to the faint of heart."

"Worth checking out," Rose thought. Mercer led her up and down a set of hallways and finally up to a reinforced sliding door, with a lower rank agent standing guard in front of it. He guard saluted when Mercer approached and stepped aside. Mercer produced an identification card and swiped it at the security console.

The door opened with an ominous squeal, admitting a pungent odor.

Rose sniffed the air. "Wait, isn't that..."

Mercer inhaled deeply. "Ah, best coffee from here to South America, and you can lay your life on that. Cafeteria specialty. Come on in,. Breakfast was hours ago, but I'm sure I can still drum up a snack."

Rose mentally slapped herself in the face. "This guy is either a complete idiot, or he's playing me."

Apparently having the chief executive officer as your guide had its perks, for shortly thereafter the cook on duty concocted a three-course breakfast for her and a cup of the celebrated coffee for Mercer.

"Anything in particular to drink?" Mercer asked graciously.

"Got tomato juice?"

Mercer got up, went over to the counter, picked up a tomato and a glass, and brought them back to the table. "Here, make your own."

Rose simply glared at him. He then reconsidered and gave her order to the cook. While she ate, Mercer rambled on about the uses of the cafeteria, ranging from a mess room to a meeting place for the top brass.

"When you finish," her guide continued expansively, "we shall visit the auditorium and visual entertainment center. Most useful for general briefing. Also particularly nice for private video game sessions, if you're interested."

Rose sighed inwardly. "This is going to be a looong day..."

Let me know what you think. I like reviews :)

Next chapter, Rose has a run in with Ron and clashes with an enemy from the past. She also faces the dilema of whether to fix Kim's hand or not. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter, King of the Planets. (I'm about two thirds of the way through it, so it should be up in about a week. It will ultimately depend on how much scoolwork I have...