I'm baaaack! Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the thing you've all been waiting for, ROTN Chapter 7!
As of now, all revisions to previous chapters have been complete. I have added bits and peices to some of the earlier chapters, so I suggest giving them a reread.
Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta-reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible and do not claim to do so!
Kim looked down at the girl she had agreed to take to the hospital and gave her a friendly smile. "What might your name be?" she asked.
"I'm Jess Ticulate," the girl replied proudly, a smile stretching across her face.
"Well then Jess, let's get in the car."
"Hooray!" Jess bounded over to the Sloth and slid into one of the back seats.
Shego raised an eyebrow. "Is she a teen or a toddler?"
Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Some kids are like that. If she's going to see Mom, she might have some mental illness."
"Whatever. You go run your little trolley service. I'm going to see if I can find you-know-who. Who knows what kind of trouble she could get into."
"Or make." Kim added over her shoulder as she headed for the Sloth.
"Yeah. That's probably more likely." Shego murmured. She scanned the parking lot and spotted Rose engaged in earnest conversation with some boy. Shego suspected that they were old acquaintances, since she doubted that Rose would hit it off so easily with a stranger. She decided it would be safe to ignore her for a few seconds at least and turned away.
The snotty brunette Rose had collided with earlier was wailing into her cell phone, loudly complaining to the unlucky person on the other end. "But Junior," her voiced reached Shego's ears, "you promised to take me shopping today!" She glowered angrily as the voice on the other end whined that his father had forbidden shopping sprees for the next week at least, since the last one had nearly bankrupted them...
"Hey, Bean Brain."
At the sound of the all-too-familiar nickname, Shego whirled and saw Rose motioning to her. The elder woman walked over, looking highly displeased. She brandished a glowing fist in Rose's face.
"How many times do I have to tell you? No. Silly. Names. In. Public!"
"Ouch," Rose muttered in mock offense. "Why must you be so snappy? I was only trying to get your attention, you know. Everyone is so rude these days," she lamented.
Shego looked curious at Rose's tone. "That's a new attitude. Where'd you pick it up?"
Rose grinned, banishing her imitation of Mercer. "From a friend of mine. He's the kind of guy who wears off on you."
"Obviously," sighed Shego. "Now did you call me over just show off your ability to talk like an idiot, or was there another reason?"
"You looked lonesome."
A suspicious look crossed Shego's features. "Lonesome?"
Rose smirked playfully. "Yep. You get this funny look to you whenever you're away from Drakken for any length of time..."
"Rose!" Shego warned, turning a pale shade of crimson.
The impish redhead ignored her, humming a garbled version of 'Here Comes the Bride.' "I think you miss him dearly. In fact-"
Before Rose could say anything that would get her head taken off, the boy she'd been talking with stepped in between the two. Giving Rose a stern glance, he turned to Shego.
"Hi, my name's Don Fire. You must be Shego. Rose told me all about you."
"She better not have," thought Shego, but she shook the hand he offered her. "What's with all the weird names around here? First Possible and Stoppable, now Fire."
"That's Middleton for you," Don chuckled. He turned to Rose. "Tell you what, I'll take Shego out to eat somewhere while you go get your things from Reese's house. The three of us will meet up at my place in, let's say, an hour. Then you two can go back to doing whatever, and maybe swing by the cookout I'm having this evening."
"Whoa, there. No one's taking me out to eat anywhere," Shego announced to her apparently deaf companions.
"This one of your regular cookouts?" Rose asked.
"Yep, the whole gang's gonna be there," answered Don.
"Sounds like fun, but I'll probably be busy tonight," said Rose. "If I don't make it, I should be back in a week or so."
Shego opened her mouth again, but decided that she should never turn down a free lunch, particularly when it might give her a chance to keep an eye on Rose later.
"Okay." Don went to his car, followed by Shego. When they got out of Rose's earshot, the ex-thief was still feeling paranoid.
"Are you just gonna let her run off on her own? Who knows what kind of trouble she could get into!"
"Lots," Don replied. "However, she's been living in Middleton for roughly a year and hasn't called any attention to herself until now. If she had any intentions of going on a rampage and killing tons of people she would have done it already." He got into his car and fired up the engine. Shego, still not convinced, got in the front passenger seat. After loudly revving the engine, Don grinned at her. "Hold on tight."
Shego fiddled with her seat belt and clicked it into place. "I've flown with Drakken, squirt. This will be a breeze."
-KP-
Rose shook her head as Don's car raced out of the parking lot and careened wildly into the busy streets.
"It'll be a miracle if the idiot doesn't get a ticket," she said to herself, vaulting into the seat of the motorcycle she and Shego had arrived on. Moments later, she was headed for the outskirts of Middleton, and a short ten-minute drive brought her to the house she had called home for the past year. It had never really felt like home, but then again, nothing did.
Resisting the urge to kick the flowerpot by the door, Rose silently entered the house. As expected, Reese wasn't home. Rose ascended the stairs and paused at the door to the guest room, indulging in a brief moment of self-pity. She had nothing in this world but herself-no friends, family, or purpose in life. All of that had ended with Randall's death.
Rose wandered into the room and collapsed on the bed. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, her mind replaying the night Tommy turned her world upside down... the night she lost her only true friend.
-KP-
Rose perched on the back of Randall's truck, staring at the sunset.
"Randall?" she asked her best friend.
"What is it, Rose?" he replied.
"I've been wondering, why do you come out here all the time? What's your obsession with watching the sunset? Yeah, it's pretty, but not very exciting."
Randall was silent a moment. "I come out here contemplate my failures so I don't bother anyone else," he said almost teasingly, but with a slightly hard edge to his voice. Rose understood his implication perfectly. There was only one failure big enough for him to brood over.
"I'll be fine," she tried to reassure him, "Tommy's a good guy."
Randall looked at her like she was crazy. "You're calling the leader of one the most vicious gangs in the country a 'good guy'?" he nearly shouted.
Rose jerked away from him, offended. "Hey! At least he doesn't yell at me or criticize me for making decisions he thinks are bad. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him."
"You mean, nothing other than the fact he kills people left and right without caring."
"I'm sure you're just exaggerating," Rose replied firmly. "Sure he's killed some people before, but that's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal, huh?" Randall murmured, shaking his head. "Then I really have failed you." He slid off the truck and walked away. Part of Rose wanted to follow him, to apologize for whatever she had done, but all she could do was sit there.
"I am not going to go out of my way to please a jerk who can't admit he's wrong," she huffed to herself. A trace of doubt snuck through her mind, but she instantly crushed it.
Moments later, she heard the gunshot.
-KP-
In a back alley about two minutes walking distance from Reese's house, a lone figure with bright green hair stood silently contemplating her surroundings. Agent Red shivered. Storm clouds had set in not long before, changing the relatively sunny weather into bitterly freezing temperatures.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," a soft female voice called.
Red glanced to her left and noticed a pair of blue eyes glowing in a dark corner. "Beta?" she asked in mild surprise. "I thought you'd gone running off with your little Dragon friends."
"I did," came the smooth reply.
"Then what did you call me out here for?"
"I have a suggestion."
"Continue," Red said flatly.
"Something big is about to happen, a storm is about to break. I need the assurance that you'll be on my side."
"Your side? Don't tell me you're going to betray them like you betrayed me."
"This has nothing to do with the Dragons," Beta hissed. "This is about our original mission."
Red narrowed her eyes. "You think you know where the asset is?"
"No, I already have it."
"What?! Are you an idiot?" Red yelled. "Do you know the extent of the power you're dealing with? If you can't control it, we're talking destruction on a global scale."
"I'm aware of the possible outcomes. I can't reveal too much at this point, but I think I've found a solution to all our problems."
"Then what do you need me for?" Red inquired, crossing her arms.
"Well, as you know, the next recipient of the Dragon power has reached the appropriate age and the current leader of the Dragons is looking to 'pass on the torch,' so to speak."
"Let me guess, I'm supposed to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Correct. So, what is it?"
Red thought for a moment. "No, I've moved on to other things. If you want to keep following some mission we gave up on years ago, be my guest. I, however, do not want to end up like Gamma and Delta."
"Very well. Till we meet again, Alpha."
Red watched as the blue eyes vanished. She then produced a radio form one of her pockets and turned it on.
"Director, this is Agent Red. I was just contacted by Beta, and I now fear the situation is worse than we previously thought. Requesting permission to accelerate my plan."
On the other end, Director took a deep breath. "Permission granted. Make the target Enterprise, unless you think she can't handle it. I need its security systems tested."
"Don't worry, I'm positive she can do it," Red assured her. "See you back at base. Red out." She replaced the radio and gazed into the corner Beta had occupied not long before. As she did so, her irises glowed a bright red and a smirk crossed her face.
"Game on."
-KP-
"Have a great weekend!" Mrs. Possible called to one of her coworkers as she exited Middleton General Hospital, accompanied by Kim and Jess.
"Since I'm taking Jess back home in the Sloth, you sure you don't want a ride?" offered her daughter.
Ann shook her head. "Thank you Kim, but your father's coming to pick me up anyway."
"Okay. See you later!" The two teenagers left for the parking lot.
As Ann reached the curb where James would arrive in a few minutes, her spine prickled. She spotted a familiar face and frowned. "I've been meeting too many old acquaintances lately," she remarked quietly, her gaze fixed on the woman in front of her.
Agent Red grinned at her, eyes glowing. "Hello, Ann. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Twenty-three years, to be precise. I trust you haven't forgotten?"
Ann stood up straight. "I don't know what you want, but if you do anything to my family I'll..." she trailed off.
Red just shook her head. "I'm just here with a warning. You might want to keep a careful eye on your allies. You never know when one of them might just be using you to further their own cause. Keeping your daughter away from Rose might not be a bad idea either."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying you have a lot of enemies right now, and that I'm not one of them."
"Well you're definitely not a friend!" Ann said evenly.
"Agreed," Red answered smoothly. "However, I have as much interest in keeping her alive as you do. I believe that is enough, seeing as Beta wants her dead."
Ann managed to keep a neutral expression. "I don't believe..."
"I just talked to her ten minutes ago and her motives were very clear. But anyway, I must be going." Red turned and strode down the sidewalk as subtly as a woman with her technicolor hair could.
Ann mulled over the encounter as Mr. Possible drove up to take his wife home. Red was as pretentious as ever, but she wasn't in the habit of lying.
-KP-
After returning to the Ticulate house from Don's cookout, Rose hesitated by the front steps. Shego had been hovering like a hawk again and muttering about being glad she warned Kim, but otherwise conducting herself like a model reformed supervillian. The clone folded her arms and decided it was time to force another confrontation. Kim needed to be brought to see things Rose's way, and fast.
It was pitch black by the time Rose walked up to the Possibles' house. She spotted a dull orange glow emanating from their living room, and saw several individuals sat around the fireplace, enjoying an animated conversation.
"What are you doing here?"
Rose glanced up in mild surprise to see Kim perched on the roof. "Oh, hi," she greeted her amiably. "I just came by to see how you were doing."
"That's not your thing. Why are you actually here?" accused Kim, skipping over the preliminaries.
"You've been listening to Shego too much," Rose replied, vaulting up beside her. "She tends to exaggerate the truth."
"Really? She doesn't need to."
Rose snorted. "That's what she'd like you to believe. Tell me, how many people did she say I've killed?"
"She didn't give specifics, but she implied that-"
"See?" Rose butted in. "Listen, I'll tell you how many. First, one of Drakken's henchmen, which was an accident. The second time, a guard at a bank, out of... necessity. The third one wasn't even a kill: Shego just annoyed me so much that I tried to slit her throat. And then there was Tommy, which you saw. Besides that, I've killed a few in honest self-defense, and Shego doesn't even know about those. My track record isn't as bad as she's making it out to be."
Kim's eyes hardened. "Even one murder in cold blood makes you a killer. And I'm more inclined to trust someone who's not you."
"It's all very simple," Rose muttered. "Shego's being my guard dog, all the while expecting me to get into trouble, and doesn't want to get connected with the whole business. She's hoping to gain allies by being the one who warned everybody."
"You really expect me to believe that?"
Rose shrugged. "I really don't care whether you do or not. It doesn't affect me at all."
Kim shook her head. "You're the most apathetic person I know."
Rose sighed quietly. "Not completely. Did I ever tell you about Randall?"
"Not that I can recall," Kim replied carefully.
"Well, it all started on the night Drakken launched his Diablo robots." Rose paused.
"Shego mentioned you went missing that night," put in Kim, since she seemed to be expected to say something.
Rose nodded. "Yep. I had nowhere to go after everything blew up. Drakken was your little Cell Block D, so I 'borrowed' a car and headed for Middleton."
Kim rolled her eyes, but said nothing.
"Anyway, when I arrived, I ran into some low-grade costumed type in your backstreets and kicked him outta town. Right around then, I ran smack dab into a charming lad by the name of Don Fire."
"The name sounds familiar," Kim interjected.
"Uh-huh, he goes to Middleton High. He's actually doing summer school there right now. But yeah, I got to know him, and met Randall through Don. Randall, in turn, went to work turning me into a 'respectable citizen,' as he put it." Rose took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, it didn't last. My head got the better of me and I ran off with a good-looking guy on a motorcycle. Who happened to be a gang leader, and a real rat of a boy. Sounds a little familiar?"
Kim shrugged. "I dated a synthodrone. And I didn't know it."
"Yeah, in my position, I should have known better. But I ignored the evidence, and Randall paid the price. Tommy killed him in cold blood, making some half-baked excuse about protecting me. When I refused to accept his explanation, he decided that he was done with me. I escaped with my life, and I met up with Reese after that, but I've been different ever since."
Kim felt a guarded pang of sympathy for the clone. After all, she was created by her circumstances... sort of.
Rose stared off into space, eyes focused nowhere in particular. Jumping from star to star and finally to the full moon, she seemed to search the heavens for some kind of sign. After a few minutes of silence, she stood up stiffly.
"Well, I'll be seeing you." She dropped to the ground below. Kim watched as she boarded her motorcycle and drove off. A beam of light issued forth onto the path as the front door swung open.
"Kimmie?" her mother's voice called out.
"Up here Mom," Kim replied. Mrs. Possible walked outside and looked up at her daughter.
"Who was that who just left? Some friend of yours?"
"Yeah," Kim answered. Mrs. Possible looked up at her questioningly, but got no response.
"Alright, dear, dinner is ready."
"Okay," Kim replied, leaping from the roof. She took a last glance in then direction Rose had left, wondering if next time they met, it would be as enemies.
"Well, good luck," she mumbled begrudgingly, sliding through the front door.
-KP-
Rose tore through the streets of Middleton, desperately trying to focus on her driving. But after nearly crashing into a car, she decided to pull into a parking lot and collect her thoughts. As she sat there glumly, the Kimmunicator rang out.
"What is it Scarlet?" Rose asked as the hologram popped up.
"I got a message from your client with a target and location."
"Go ahead," Rose sighed.
"You are to break into the Global Justice facility code-named 'Enterprise' and get a prisoner, designated 'Gemini,' out."
"Gemini," Rose muttered. "I think I know the name. Can't recall where I heard it."
"Excuse me?" said Scarlet politely.
Rose shook her head. "Nothing, Scarlet. Continue."
The AI's image appeared to view her curiously. "I've been given the coordinates and the schematics for the place. The date is tomorrow, just as planned."
"Tell the client it'll get done, then contact Jenkins tell him to get ready."
"Understood." Scarlet thought for a moment. "Rose, I can understand what you're going through. If you ever need anything, I'm right here."
Rose tried summon an appreciative smile. "Thanks Scarlet, you rock."
Though the reply was less than enthusiastic, Scarlet reasoned that Rose received some comfort from the gesture. As Rose gunned the motorcycle back out into the streets, rain began to pour from the dark, cloud-filled skies.
The storm was breaking.
Thanks for reading! See you in the next exciting chapter, R.I.P.