Can I Be Your Sidekick?
Chapter 3
Payback - Kimstyle
Disclaimer: Kim Possible belongs to Disney, only the story is mine, I'm just doing this for fits and giggles.
This story was inspired by the last scene in "The Twin Factor.", "ASiT", "Stop Team Go".
My thanks to all those read and/or reviewed.
Time Stream Journal
Entry#03/2002f19
Sent the Stoppables to Norway before the buffoon was born. Kimmie hooks up with Walter Nelson and by high school are attached at the hip. Her hero career is cut short barely before it began; who would've thought Miss Priss would get knocked up at fourteen by Walter just before he moves to Go City. This was just too precious, I must've laughed myself hoarse, and by the end of the week my sides still hurt. No time to be a teen hero when you're going to high school and raising a kid. Turns out the baby looked like a clone of grandma.
Entry#03/2005f23
Wouldn't you know it, Princess still lands on her feet. Seems she meets a certain goofy blond student whose parents moved back to Middleton from Norway. They fell in love in junior year and got married a few years later. Egad, that was so sappy I thought I was gonna puke! Well, overall it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things; no teen hero meant there was no Resistance.
Entry#03/2017k29
Aliens! No one said anything about aliens! They took us out in less than three days.
As much as I hate to say it, I sure could've used Miss Priss' save the world skills this time. I bailed with the Time Monkey.
How interesting, even with her out of the picture I still lost in the end.
Possible 3, World Domination 0
A feral grin graced Shego's visage, battle lust gleaming in jade eyes; pointing her arm she gestured a three finger taunt to the last of four opponents who was twirling a quarterstaff in front of himself. The mercenary sneered and uttered an evil snicker as she gloated to herself, 'Loser's billy, he should'a brought a boomstick, he's no fun now…spud's got no composure, can't peg my style, heh, doesn't know what do with the woody in his hands…oh wait, now he wants to play…laaame, the 'Winter Staff Around Summer Blossom' attack, puh-leeze.' She deftly parried each thrust and sweep of the staff, the routine so predictable she called each shot in her mind, 'Left high, uppercut, left low, again, jab, overhead…should'a brought a book…wish I were fightin' Princess…ok, bored now.'
With a speed and strength that took the young man by surprise, Shego snatched the staff out of his hands. Targeting her opponent's head, she swung to within inches of it merely to drop the weapon to the floor. Totally unprepared for such an unconventional manoeuvre the other fighter was for all intents and purposes caught flat footed when the green-eyed woman connected a round-house kick to the head. Before he could collapse the green-eyed fighter's followed up with a circle kick sending her opponent flying over twenty feet across the mat to bowl over several students sitting along the edge.
"Hold."
With a snarl Shego whipped her head toward the voice that dared command her; she recognized Master Po and forced herself to calm down. She remembered wryly when she was younger the time she pissed off a kung fu master who appeared to be aged between fifty and three hundred years old. He made her taste her spleen quite literally; it took almost two months of bed rest for her body to regenerate a new oneand heal her damaged pancreas. She turned and bowed respectfully…besides this is Kimmie's dojo.
Master Po returned the bow politely then looking at a beaming Kim announced, "Would her Crimson Brilliance present herself along with her guest."
As the green-eyed duo did so Jhessa cocked an eyebrow at her young partner and whispered, "Crimson Brilliance?"
"It's supposed to be my new honour name, but his granddaughter says it's just his way of calling me 'Red'," then with a knowing look and a smirk added a cryptic, "Wait for it."
In a rich baritone voice Master Po continued, "I am honoured to announce the full mastery of the Mantis Style by Kim Possible, the youngest student to do so; please to let us congratulate her accomplishment."
Kim glowed with pride as she saw her family and Ron applaud enthusiastically, her father recording everything on their video cam.
Master Po signalled for the audience's attention, "I wish to acknowledge the exemplary skill demonstrated by our guest, her 'Emerald Radiance', whose skill in the martial arts was an inspiration."
As everybody applauded Jhessa's eyes opened wide, eyebrows disappearing beneath bangs; looking at her young companion she uttered, "Say what?"
Grinning, Kim explained, "Told ya, he just gave you an honour name too, I'm not sure but I think he just called you 'Green Babe'."
"Did not…"
"…Did so…"
"…I'm not green…"
"…You have green eyes, your hair shines green and all the older boys have been calling you a babe since we got here…"
"…I'm not that green and I'm not a ba…yeah, ok I'm a babe."
Kim ran off with an amused glint in her eyes, "I'll be right back, Jhessa." She approached her instructor and bowed, "Master Po, have you had a chance to consider my request to learn Shego's fighting style?"
"Yes, Crimson Brilliance. Hers is not a style so much as a philosophy called 'The Intercepting Fist'. Although I am acquainted with it I do not adhere to its tenets," looking towards Shego he added, "However, her Emerald Radiance might be willing to instruct you; she seems to comprehend that philosophy as no other."
The young girl looked with curiosity at her babysitter.
In a back corner of the dojo, unobtrusively hiding in plain site an old man of Asian descent wearing a red and gold silk robe and sporting a generous moustache, beard and top knot of white hair attended the demonstration with interest. His eyes glinted with satisfaction at Kim's accomplishment then glanced at Shego, 'Emerald Radiance sounds so much nicer than Shego; I wonder how your spleen is doing these days?'
The young teen girl crept stealthily making her way to the vault door at the end of the corridor, eyes enhanced with night vision goggles she easily avoided the simple laser beam alarm triggers. Shucking her backpack she retrieves a round electronic device with a small display screen and number keypad and affixed it to the vault door. She hoped her Intel was correct; the security breaching protocols of the device could only be matched up to one system at a time. With a satisfied smile she watched the electronic device successfully unlock the vault and stepped back as the door swung open.
She stepped inside and saw more laser beams knowing however, they only supplemented the pressure sensitive floor extending in a ten foot radius around a pedestal in the middle of the vault upon which sat the item she was to retrieve for her mentor.
She reached into her pack again and pulled out a cylindrical device with a round disc affixed to each end. Stretching as high as she could the young girl placed one end of the device against the wall and heard the disc clack magnetically against it. Activating a trigger launched a grapple line across the room its magnetic disc securing itself on the other side. Placing a pulley on the cable she deftly lifted herself up to hook the karabiner to her web belt pulling herself along till she was just above her objective. Reaching down with a clawed gauntlet she plucked a thin wafer of gold engraved with mystical writings from its place; displaying it proudly towards the security camera she removed her goggles to reveal a smug expression.
Putting the video on pause, Shego, still wearing work out clothes from her morning exercises, leaned back in her executive office chair and turned her head towards her uncle sitting to the side, "A real showboat isn't she?"
Still scribbling down notes he says, "She does display a rather irrepressible sense of self confidence."
Shego added, "If she didn't pull in six figures every time I hired her out I'd be more inclined to smack that smug look off the little spud's face. What about the biometric readings from her chip?"
Percy consulted his laptop sitting atop his niece's oak desk, "The genetic manipulations to her body are holding up well, she's already as strong as a young adult male and by the time she's fifteen as strong as an Olympic weightlifter. Her agility matches that of a gymnast but of course she needs to be taught how to use her strength and agility to best effect. Which brings up her intellect; she's bright but not brilliant, has a knack for deception, which shows in the adeptness with which she picks up your lessons on stealth and infiltration. And, as seems true with kids her age, is fairly competent using electronic equipment. Basically, she can be taught. The apparent success rate she enjoys seems to validate her ability to learn and apply skills to her missions. However, I have noted she doesn't seem to think so fast on her feet and her fear of extreme heights could become a problem on certain missions. Anyway Jhessa, I should get going and work some more on the neural scans I took of you.
Shego drank from a water bottle put her shapely, athletic legs up on her desk, watching her uncle leave, "Thanks unc' I appreciate it." On her computer she brings up a file with her training log and enters some data, 'Pretty good, not as strong as Henry but I can at least throw Ian across the room next time he gets annoying.'
After updating her training log the young woman walks to the mini bar and stares blankly at the row of fine liquors lined up on a shelf. Grabbing some energy bars and pineapple juice from the bar fridge she turned to glance around the executive penthouse office of her 'corporate' headquarters; the penthouse, completely surrounded by windows, gave her an unobstructed view of the Tri-City area from her newly acquired office building situated in Upperton. In the middle of the floor was a circular staircase that connected with the receptionist one floor below where the elevator was. Opposite the mini bar was a large aquarium containing several piranha, on the ceiling were two self-activating motion-sensing lasers disguised as lamps. The penthouse was subdivided to include a small conference room and an en suite bedroom.
Munching on her snack Shego returned to her desk to check her agenda, stopping briefly along the way to admire some blue hydrangeas on a side table. Reading the entries she notes that it would be a busy day. Then a lopsided grin appears on her face, 'Sweet! I think I'll stay in my workout clothes for this first appointment; he'll be too busy drooling to think clearly.
-
"Ok Mr. Smarty, GoCorp will start furnishing your stores with the new stock-bots over the next ten years, as part of the deal I'd like you to indulge me with a rather eccentric request," said Shego.
"Anything Miss Green, a generous investment such as you have made certainly entitles you to any indulgence," replied Martin Smarty eagerly, all the while barely able to keep his eyes away from the contours showing through Shego's outerwear sportsbra.
"It's no big, I like animals; I wouldn't hurt an alligator even if it tried to eat me: something like piranhas, hermit crabs, buffalo, baby otters, lemurs and oh, especially naked mole rats and maybe an angry gorilla or two, for example; if it's not too much trouble," said the young woman in the sweetest voice she could muster despite her true feelings, 'Ick, no shiv but I'm getting cavities some nasty, and he's undressed me so many times with his eyes I think I'm gonna catch cold.
Martin stood up and offered his hand, "It's a deal."
Shego stood up and shook his hand, "Have your legals call my legals and we'll do signatures."
As the Smartymart owner left the young executive reflected on this success, 'Yup, platoons of armoured, EMP resistant, laser armed battlebots scattered around the world.
-
"In short ma'am," concluded the Chief of Operations, "as of last month we have complete control of fourteen minor countries, significant influence in twenty-two more and a presence in all the rest. The suggestions planted by the programming of the neuro-compliance chips is even making the worst despots slowly change their domestic policies to benefit their citizens; corruption is slowly decreasing bit by bit but enough to be noticed by the western powers. Foreign aid is reaching our controlled countries allowing us to rebuild infrastructure at their expense. In the long run, the loyalty base will increase as the qualities of life for these populations improve."
Jade eyes turn to the Chief Financial Officer who begins her summary, "As usual ma'am your economic acumen is beyond anything I've ever seen…"
'…You have no idea sister,' thought Shego…
"…in ten years. Assuming your input continues our liquid assets alone could eliminate the U.S. national debt. As instructed we've created a new international banking institution called GoBank, we now have a secure location to sequester all funds not immediately required for operations so they don't unduly influence the financial markets. As ordered the marketing people in the controlled countries are slowly insinuating the perception that overall prosperity is as much tied with 'GoCorp' as it is with the economic policies of that government."
Acknowledging the report with a nod, Shego turns her chair to gaze out the window, effectively dismissing the executives. After they left she started going through the computer files to check on the progress of a few certain projects….
'Hmm, Neutronalizer production is on track, they worked great against the aliens, at least until the power grid was disabled. The new ones will be self-contained power-wise...weather machine production, good…Pan-Dimensional-Vortex Inducer acquisition awaiting it's creation by original owner…the first cold-fusion reactor program on track…my citadel needs a few more defensive turrets for Neutronalizer batteries…oh yeah, my favourite, Kimmie's new lair will be ready in five or six years.'
Turning to her desk Shego picked up a tabloid and a copy of 'Villain's Digest'. The tabloid, 'The Obsessed', had two articles indexed with sticky notes. The first article reported the appearance of short, pink aliens at various places around the world. She grimaced, 'No wonder I've been itchy a lot these past couple weeks, the Rufus Series have been busy.' The second article warned of mind control chips controlling some of the world leaders making them behave out of character. Not liking what she had just read Shego pressed a switch, "Kasey, please send Agent Jones here now."
"Sure an' I'll be doin' that for you right now, Miss Jhessa," responded the receptionist with a lilting Irish brogue.
Shego held up a lit finger, speaking with irritation to a man suddenly standing behind her, "Jonesy, if you insist on trying to sneak up on me I swear I'll turn your hair into a green flambé, got it? Next time use the stairs."
"Yes ma'am; you wanted to see me," said a male voice.
She pointed to the tabloid, "Follow up on the mind control chip story, eliminate everybody connected to it and follow the trail to its source, if it leads here find the traitor and advise me, I'll decide what to do at that point; understood?"
Nodding to his employer he picked up the tabloid and left via the stairs.
With a huff Shego retrieved a bottle of water from the bar then dropped back into her chair, rubbing her eyes, 'Oi, long day.' She picked up the digest and skimmed the articles, 'Hmm…Team Impossible - Heroes, Villains or Mercenaries...Henchco is expanding operations…Want Ads…finally Drakken's want ad for a sidekick.'
Glancing at the video image of the young girl Shego dials up the research head of the neuro-compliance chip division, "Doctor, your Mark III neuro-compliance chip appears to have eliminated the zombie-like deportment of the subject, and quite effectively it seems. And new behaviour mods can be programmed remotely with an encrypted signal…Good, it's time for our star pupil to deploy, re-configure her compliance chip to obey a villain named Drakken, I'll send his specs, but I want you to add some embellishments…Yes, make sure she displays a cynical attitude, short temper and plenty of sarcasm…Excellent…I'll let you know when to engage the changes, and expect a bonus this month for your division…Yeah, yeah, whatever…Now get back to work.
The young executive in charge of GoCorp turned to the video screen, pressed play and watched movement return to the smug, young face, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she destroyed the security camera with a blast of green energy from an adamantine clawed black gauntlet. Shego sighed, 'You can imitate but you can't duplicate.'
"First of all Princess, we get rid of katas and all those fancy flourishes you sees on kung fu movies. Remember those first two guys I took out at your dojo, while they were going through their 'demonstrations' I had plenty of time to take each of them out; in a real fight that waste of time could get you hurt. Besides, doing a kata is like practicing how to swim on dry land, it's not of much use. If you want to be an effective fighter you must practice how to fight; as such we'll be sparring everyday and not by tournament rules either."
After supper a sore and tired Kiminserted a tape into the VCR to review some of the news footage of Shego fighting to see if she could study how the hero fought and apply it to her lessons. She opened her mother's well worn anatomy text, a notebook and pencil and began taking notes and drawing sketches.
Late spring
Ever since returning to the beginning of the time stream Shego had been aware of the little quirks in her behaviour; she attributed this to the fact that since she was reliving this portion of her life old habits were simply kicking in. The dreams had always been there if only infrequent, now they were driving her to distraction.
Her memory was also proving difficult of late; things she thought had occurred recently were realized later to not have yet occurred. Sometimes she could not tell if a recent event was a new memory or an old one. Her uncle's partial explanation helped somewhat however he was having trouble interpreting the data from the neural scans he took some weeks ago. There was one thing Shego felt certain about….
"You've got something to do with this Possible!" shouted the frustrated young woman as she drove to the Possible home for an early afternoon meeting with Kim's mom, 'I bet she's gonna peg me for my pheromonal dysfunction, figure that ain't gonna be too awkward.'
Following her instructions Shego let herself in the front door and immediately heard noises coming from the family room, 'That sounds like one of Ron's video games I thought the kids were still in school.' Upon entering however, she was surprised to see Kim's mom sitting on the couch furiously punching buttons on the game controller. "Mrs. Dr. P?" she called hesitantly.
With a surprised yelp Ann leapt up and spun around, blushing in embarrassment when she realized she was busted by the baby sitter. Grinning sheepishly she wiggled her fingers, stuttering, "Um, playing is good for hand eye coordination, useful for neurosurgeons, gotta stay frosty y'know. Sorry, I must've lost track of time, worked a night shift, just got up a little while ago, or so I thought. You won't tell Kimmie will you; she hates these things."
A stunned Shego managed to stammer, "Sure thing." She took in her employer's appearance: tussled hair; braless under a loose t-shirt; worn out cut off jeans showing off long legs ending in dainty, pedicured feet. Her mind wandered involuntarily, 'Hmm, not baaad for a mother of three…gaaggh…composure, as in totallack of.' Shego tried to refocus her brain by glancing at the video game box.
"Zombie Mayhem; isn't that Ronnie's favourite game? So why are there snowmen on the screen?" Shego asked curiously.
With an enthusiastic glint in her eye the mother replies, "Bonus round after you beat the game. This is my fourth time through, the bonus round is my favourite. An evil Santa builds a weather machine to produce toxic snowstorms and create zombie snowmen. I've got the snow plough now and I've almost enough kills to get the ion powered snow melter before the snow giant shows up; oh and the power-ups are cups of hot cocoa."
"Yeaaah…ok," replied Shego, 'Hmm, profiler must've missed that aptitude for video games.' Concerned that the conversation might steer into awkward zones Shego decided to return to the purpose of her visit, "Um, what did you want to talk about Mrs. Dr. P?"
Suddenly adopting a sultry look and sashaying over to her target Ann lifts the chin of the shorter woman locking intense blue eyes onto confused jade ones then spoke softly into her ear, her voice a warm breath against it, "Let's put ourselves on an even footing first shall we? I'll call you Jhessa if you call me Ann; if you insist on being formal I guess I'll have to return the courtesy and call you Miss…Shego."
Although the younger woman did well to conceal her reaction it was futile while in bodily contact with a perceptive brain surgeon mother with a psychology degree. 'Gotchya!' thought the older woman to herself as she continued to whisper, "You seem to be a little stressed, allow me to make you more comfortable; would a strong cup of J200 help you relax? I know it works for me."
Turning off the video game and TV then proceeding to the kitchen with Shego in tow Ann continued her explanation, "When you showed up I was eighty per cent sure, I'd seen you on the news; there aren't that many women with three feet of luxurious raven tresses. Also there aren't many high school girls willing to drink coffee that's older than they are. James and I hired you on Percy's recommendation and I figured if you were a super hero you might be able to keep up with the kids."
After the coffee was served the hero-villain remained alertly silent as she watched the mother reach under the sink and retrieve a light green spray can from the cleaning caddy. Her eyes opened wide with recognition, 'Damn, where'd she find that?'
Ann continued, "I confiscated this spray paint from the boys, I'm sure you can well imagine why. Also imagine my surprise when I discovered the paint smelled like skin lotion and the colour looked familiar. I took it to a chemist colleague who was mightily impressed; it's experimental, a camouflage paint that's permanent until removed with a counter-agent and is also beneficial to the skin."
'Figure like I'm gonna tear a new one in the profiler who dropped the ball on mom's resourcefulness,' thought Shego grimly.
The surgeon stood up and motioned the teen to do the same then began caressing her exposed skin, speaking as she examined Shego, "Third degree contact burns upper right arm, skin's a little pink but nice work with the makeup; I'm next in line to be head neurosurgeon at Middleton Medical Centre so I needed to upgrade my experience. Because you were away on family matters a few weeks ago, James took some time off while I worked at Go Memorial." Ann looked in awe at the left wrist, "You had fourth degree burns here and it's almost completely regenerated; is their any pain or tightness?" Seeing Shego shake her head she continued, "One night while I was on duty in ER I had a very illuminating and eventful emergency call. It seems Team Go had just captured some electrical villain but apparently Shego really took one for the team to complete the collar. She came in with severe electrical burns over most of her body, many of them third degree. Take off your top please."
As she complied Shego winced at the memory, 'I am so gonna nuke that moronic, self centered spud Ian radical for that billy stunt.'
Ann continued her examination as she spoke, "Every emergency response is important but to say there was an elevated sense of urgency when you came in would be an understatement, arc burn entry wound here and exit here; I was thinking if Shego died on my watch Kimmie would be devastated. As I went for you I was stopped by Hego; he started ranting about civic responsibility, super hero secret identity and signing a non-disclosure agreement before I started treatment. I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I did what I always do to difficult people in ER, I took him out."
With disbelief on her face Shego asked, "Huh, what?"
Looking at her babysitter grimly Ann continued, "No one gets between me and my patient, absolutely no one. It took but a moment to realize Hego's weakness, a slavish obsession with following rules and procedures, I simply told him his interference with a physician's duties in a hospital was against hospital policy and if such interference caused further injury or death he would be held culpable...hmm, the third degree burns on your torso from your outfit catching fire are healing well...he was very cooperative when security hauled your brothers' sorry asses out of the treatment room. I was very surprised to suddenly see Percy there, I thought he was going to have a stroke when he saw me treating you. He practically begged me to hook up a brain monitor to you and said I'd be the only one able to interpret the readings. I figured it was a superhero thing and agreed. Imagine also my surprise when the nurse and I managed to peel off the burnt mask and found myself looking at my babysitter's burnt albeit green face…and the flash burns you had there are all gone." Ann smiled, "You can put your top back on and sit down my dear. I'm a neurosurgeon not a trauma specialist, but there was a gang war between two high schools that night and ER was swamped, so of course I pitched in."
Shego sat mesmerized as she watched Kim's mother take on the 'thousand-yard-stare' as she took a long pull from her mug; the surgeon continued, "You were a mess; you went into vfib while I was dealing with your brother and I had no idea what internal injuries you had from the arc burns. All I know is I resuscitated you seven times." Ann recalled a silly expression from an episode of 'Pals', '…seventh time's the charm.' She continued, "Each attempt was motivated by a curious brain wave on the monitor that shouldn't have been there, and you calling out for Kim. So here you are barely two weeks out of the hospital with the scars almost completely healed; tell me you're not Shego."
The young woman thought back to that night; she did not recall much after she and Electronique began mixing it up when the ambush went bad thanks to Ian. It was no wonder her brothers had been scarce the past couple of weeks and her uncle circumspect about it all. The blurry memory of two blue orbs within a halo of red, and the same four words repeated, finally made itself clear…please, for Kimmie's sake.
A sudden realization hit Shego's mind like a brick which then felt as if it dropped to her gut, 'Damn, it wasn't me that fought Electronique in the original time stream, it was Jhessy. It was her turn to go on a mission with the boys, when she took the hit….'
Once the night-shift nurses finished their rounds in the burn unit of Go Memorial Hospital Shego stepped out of the shadows to gaze at the patient occupying the bed in the room. It would be disconcerting enough to see a family member, even a twin being treated for severe burns; your own clone however, made it feel as if you were looking at yourself and that took the weirdness factor to a whole new creepy level. Shego padded over to Jhessy's bed and gently placed her left hand on her forehead. Gradually a delicate wisp of green motes of energy danced around her hand and settled on the patient's head looking much like fairy dust. A few moments later Jhessy awoke and looked up at the person beside her bed.
Shego smiled fondly, "Hey there, Kitten."
The younger 'Shego' smirked, "Backatchya Sour Puss."
Jhessa looked sternly at her younger self, "Talk to me."
Jhessy scowled, "It was Ian again. I mean, really? When ya go against Electronique ya gotta maintain electronic silence or she'll peg any electronic emissions and know you're there. The spud had his Gommunicator turned on and took an emergency call from his squeeze. No shiv but she pegged his shout out and made the ambush."
Jhessa growled, "Idiot; he knows better. Electronique can smell electromagnetic emissions like sharks smell blood. Our comms are as familiar as a favourite flavour to her.
Jhessy grunted with disgust, "Yeah, so, Ian was late getting into position which meant she put the bounce on the twins some radical before they even had a chance to copy them selves, which forced Henry to deal with the hench-people instead of helping me with her. I took most of my hits while tossing Kevin and Kyle out the way so I could put the smack down on that wiry-haired freak. Long story short, we won and I ended up here."
"So you must've been pretty messed up when they brought you in."
Jhessy looked up and said quietly, "JJ…I almost checked out. They had to revive me seven times before it took. I didn't know my heart kept stopping; when I was awake I thought I was dreaming of staring at two blue planets in a red nebula. Heh, I was thinking I ought to cut back on watching Space Passage for a while. Anyways, I kept hearing a voice encouraging me and I felt I'd be safe if I made it those blue planets."
Shego stared silently as her sister continued softly, "JJ…do you know what a hug sounds like?"
Puzzled, Jhessa shakes her head as her sister answers almost reverently, "Dr. Possible."
"Huh?"
"She's the doctor in ER that wouldn't let me die…every time she spoke to me I felt calm, reassured…and…loved."
SHEGO! Did everything get brought back from the time-share lair; I can't find some of my personal effects and I consider them very valuable and of great sentimental value," whined Drakken.
"Your teddy bear and favourite cocoa-moo mug are in the shoe box on the dresser in your room, Dr. D." drawled Shego.
Having just moved back in to the rebuilt Caribbean lair after the Nano-Tick caper, Shego was still stewing at having had her first defeat handed to her by a bunch of teenagers; a preppy cheerleader above all. 'The princess was just plain lucky,' groused the disgruntled villain to her self, 'Still, it might be worth a visit to make her reconsider her choice of extra-curricular activities.'
Shego approached under the Possible home from a nearby ravine pondering whether to enter via the patio door or the back door by the kitchen. 'I'll bet they probably have one of those chintzy suburban grade home alarm systems,' she mused. Sneaking between two bushes she felt a click beneath her foot, hoping she had stepped on a twig however, that hope was quickly dispelled when a clamp firmly grasped her ankle. The dilemma with her ankle was immediately forgotten when a loud pop signalled the launch of a small canister to level with the villain's face her eyes opening in horror at the realization she was staring at the business end of a 'Bouncing-Betty' anti-personnel mine. 'SHIT!' Shego closed her eyes as the click of the igniter switch and ensuing loud bang turned her world bright orange.
The mercenary was still in a foul mood several days after the night's fiasco at the Possible home; her outfit was ruined after being doused with glow-stick orange paint mixed with some super stink formula from the paint grenade that launched in front of her. The bruises on her body were almost gone yet when one is struck by over a hundred pepper-spray filled paint balls some of those impacts overlap and it was those spots that still ached, along with the ankle. Her hair still stank and a couple of henchmen were still cleaning out the cockpit of the hover jet.
Deciding more Intel was needed Shego ordered a profile dossier of the Possibles from Henchco and because of the premium service package he had, Dr. Drakken could get profiles on 'civilians' for free. Unfortunately for Drakken, Henchco classified Kim as a 'Class A-plus Hero' meaning it cost a hundred thousand dollars to assemble the dossier. Shego ignored Dr. Drakken's rant on expenses and spent the better part of a morning along with a pot of black coffee reading….
'A born leader…can't resist a challenge…driven to excel…a perfectionist…oi, little Miss Perfect. Her brothers are just as annoying as mine only a hundred times smarter, a real pair of little genius'…pop's a rocket scientist, puh-leeze are we starting with the clichés now? Likes soccer…nerdlinger…ooh, arrested three times in Europe for soccer hooliganism, points for pops. Mom's a brain surgeon…geez, that family must have a combined IQ of 20,000 and even with straight A's Kimmie is merely considered the dumb jock of the family.'
Shego's brow furrowed as her brain connected the photo of Kimmie's mother, to the last name and that she was a surgeon. Perplexed, she went to her quarters where she retrieved an old photo of Jhessy kissing the cheek of a bemused Dr. Ann Possible on the back of which was scrawled "My most favourite doctor!"
Shego endured again the sense of loss and grief she experienced at the death of her sister Jhessy those years ago; she turned around to make sure the door to her quarters was closed and locked and allowed her self to mourn for a time until she was able to compose her self. Shego came to a decision, 'You always were a bit of a softy, Kitten, and your penmanship sucked. You said you owed your life to Dr. Ann Possible and actually wanted to repay the favour somehow. Well, that's not the way I roll little sis, but she did give me a couple more years with you before your body failed; so for you, and just for you I'll return the favour. I won't let Dr. Possible's daughter suffer any permanent harm if I'm there to help it…not that I'll go easy on her; besides, if our scuffle at that Tex-Mex place is any indicator, Kimmie could make a great sparring partner.'
Jhessa's attention was slowly brought back to the present as she heard her name being softly called. She focused on the physician across the table, seeing soft blue eyes looking at her with concern.
"Are you all right my dear," Ann asked, "You really zoned out there for a minute, actually more like three or four, I was getting worried; did I hit a nerve with that last question?"
Jhessa glanced down at her empty mug, "Um, dunno, a forgotten memory came back and, umm, reference your question, guilty."
With a small smile the older woman refilled the mugs and changed the subject, "Have you ever heard my side of the family mentioned at all?"
"I don't think so," replied Jhessa.
With a hint of melancholy the mother explains, "That's because I don't have any. I was an orphan; I was shunted from foster home to foster home and though I was never abused I wasn't exactly nurtured either. I was never a bitch but I stopped bothering to make friends which is a habit hard to break as evidenced by the fact I have only two close friends, Ron's mother and strangely enough Bonnie's mother. When I started high school I was moved from a family in Lowerton to a new family here in Middleton. They were a middle-aged couple with no children, he was a professor at the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology and she was a head nurse at Middleton Medical Center. I hadn't realized how bleak my life was until I was shown how promising it could be; I was encouraged, nurtured, loved for the first time in my life, it was awesome. The best birthday present I ever got were signed adoption papers when I turned fifteen."
'That profiler is so getting a green enema,' Shego thought in annoyance than asked quietly,"Did you try to find your real parents?"
"It turned out Mama was one of the nurses who attended my birth. I was born to a teen mom in a hospital in Denver; she said the young mother was just your basic average girl, pretty with red hair and green eyes, I was named after her. Sometimes I look at Kimmie and wonder if I'm not looking at my mother. Mama wanted to adopt me then but she was unmarried at the time. When she married and discovered she couldn't have her own kids she did some discreet searching and after several years managed to track me down."
"So what happened to your adoptive parents?"
"Mama died of a stroke right in front of me in this kitchen, by the fridge," Ann's eyes retreated into a distant memory, "…it was a special Saturday breakfast to celebrate my acceptance at Upperton University, hash browns, bacon, baked beans, eggs…papa's five-year-old-coffee recipe, mama was going to fetch the eggs when it happened; papa died of a heart attack almost exactly a year later, I think it was more from a broken heart. I received this house and money as an inheritance; I kept the house because it's large, perfect for a large family with plenty of space for visiting family and friends. The money I used to study medicine and become a brain surgeon in honour of them. Papa had already introduced me to James and during that time he helped me get through it. I grew to love James and we got married, I enjoyed his positive attitude to things. When Kimmie was born I promised she would have at least one sibling and spend as much time with family as possible; thus our game nights with June and her boy Larry and our visits to Slim and Joss in Montana. The holidays, especially Christmas, are sacrosanct as family events; and seeing Kim and Ron so tight warms my heart every day, I hope it never ends. All our children are encouraged and nurtured to be the best at whatever they want to do; I told Kimmie once, that as long as it didn't hurt anyone she could do anything she wanted to do and if helped someone so much the better. She took it to mean she was capable of doing anything she set her mind to. This is where you come in Jhessa."
"Uh-huh."
"The boys like you but Kimmie is a special case, she loves Jhessa and idolizes Shego; I want to make sure we are all on the same page. If you want to be a role model to the kids I expect you to give them the same encouragement to excel as we do. You also need to keep an eye on Kimmie's temper. James and I have encouraged her to talk things out and for the most part she's improving; but set her off and she's more likely to bend, fold, mutilate and otherwise rearrange anatomy to get her point across. I'm surprised Bonnie is still in one piece and I honestly think Arnie Custer got off easy."
The teen smiled brightly, "I think Kimmie has the potential to make a name for herself and as for her temper I'm more than willing to help her with that. By the way, does she know who I am?"
"She's noted the physical similarities between Jhessa and Shego, a few more clues and she'll figure things out; she's not stupid just young. As for me I'm a little torn, I've that stupid confidentiality agreement I have to abide versus my desire to tell Kimmie all. You could tell her of course, I don't get the super hero secret identity thing but she might. By the way, is this college thing for real?"
"Yeah, I actually plan to retire from the hero business altogether and teach; it's important to mould minds early if they are to deal with the future. We have one major villain to put away, he's called the Mathter."
"The master of what?"
"No, it's actually Mathter, he's a lame math villain who's trying to get revenge on Go City, don't ask."
After pouring more coffee for the two of them Ann looked intently at the younger woman, "Now, about us."
'Woohoo, here it comes,' thought Shego wryly.
"First off, are you lesbian?'
Shego thought for a moment and answered honestly, "I don't know?"
Ann sat for a moment looking closely at the teen then responded, "I'll accept that answer at face value for now, there are homosexuals who have gone through a period of uncertainty before committing themselves. I'm actually rather indifferent to whether someone is gay or not, it's their choice. However, let me make this clear, if Kim chooses an alternative lifestyle it shall be a choice she makes for herself not one made for her; are we clear on that? As for me I'm hetero so there won't be an 'us'," the redhead smiled, "On the other hand, getting crushed on by a beautiful young woman half my age, and a superhero at that is a great ego boost and at least you managed to maintain some composure, poor James couldn't even form a complete sentence around me when we first met."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Did you get involved in anything in school like cheerleading or something?"
"Not cheerleading but I was on the swim team in university. I did alright, always finished in the top four, I cut quite the figure in a swim suit if I do say so myself. I did pretty well with the weight training I could bench a little over two hundred and only had some nice tone and not a lot of bulk to show for it which is good since sleek is better for swimming. It was fun arm wrestling macho boys for a beer. I still swim, not quite as much as back in the day, but it does improve my stamina for those long stints in surgery. It must be something in my genetics because Kimmie is strong for her age; Master Po, told me she's as strong as the thirteen and fourteen year old boys. He's also concerned she enjoys tossing the older boys around a little too much."
Suddenly the sound of the front door opening accompanied by a stampede of small feet and a chorus of high pitched and frantic barking shattered the adult time being shared in the kitchen. The Tweebs, Ron, Tara and Amanda charged into the kitchen like a pack of baying bloodhounds, circling the kitchen once before bolting straight for the fridge, the little blue-eyed blonde fitting in a cheery greeting to the women; the pack retreated to the family room, arms loaded with snackage. Kim went straight to her mother to give a generous hug and a kiss on the cheek, and upon seeing Jhessa smiled brightly also giving her a tight hug.
The younger redhead turned excited green eyes to her mother,
" .MahoneyaskedifIcouldwatchhercatthisweekendifitsok withyou…whew."
The sitter smirked, "Nice lungs Pumpkin."
"That's nice Kimmie, but next time use punctuation and yes you may help Mrs. Mahoney this weekend, I'll give her a call," responded Ann with a smile, "Oh, and get cleaned up we have that appointment at the orthodontist."
"Remember Cupcake, you don't necessarily hit the other guy more often than he hits you to win, just hitting him before he hits you is more energy efficient. Blocking an attack requires you to match his energy with yours; following with a counterattack ends up being two movements. Parrying his attack merely redirects the energy which requires less effort on your part. Combining a counterattack with that parry minimizes time and is also energy efficient; this is where you have to be flexible and be willing to use the fighting style that best fits the situation."
After supper a slightly tired Kim puts another tape in the VCR to review footage of Team Go fighting to see if she could apply any of Shego's moves into her own personal style.
Jhessa was actually enjoying herself at the track and field meet more than she expected; the fact that Kim was blowing away the competition helped a lot and listening to Bonnie rant in frustration when her rival won was always entertaining. To be fair the little brunette was always in second and even then well ahead of the rest of the pack. The teen actually felt like the proud big sister.
Participation was mandatory by order of Vice-Principal Barkin, unless one was injured, so even Ron had to compete; however, between Kim, Tara and Amanda he had his own private cheer squad for encouragement. In fact the blond came in third overall in the hundred meter sprint behind Walter and Vinnie; the fact Nate and Zach were also in the same heat might have added motivation. Jhessa could not help but notice the look of envy on Walter's face when Ron received a congratulatory hug from Kim.
It was a given that Kim would top every event; that was not important to the redhead. All that mattered to her was beating her previous performance, thrusting her hand in the air when successful or brooding when not. When the little athlete beat her previous high jump record by five and a half inches she treated everybody to a cartwheel, back flip, handspring and arm thrust; receiving a high five from Walter.
Even Jhessa ended up having her own bit of fun. Mr. Barkin had been hitting on her all morning and she was ignoring him for the most part until she noticed Miss Riddle giving her the evil eye. She took that as a challenge so, with an evil smirk the teen called out in the perkiest voice she could muster, "Oh Stevie, wait up."
The last big event of the day was the fifth graders four hundred meter relay, the track having been laid out around the soccer field. The boys went first and of course Walter's team won. For the girls' heat there were only two of the five teams that drew much attention: Bonnie's with Liz, Hope and Crystal; and Kim's with Jessica, Tara and Amanda.
Kim examined how Bonnie placed her team; of course the brunette took the last relay position so she could cross the finish line. Liz, the third fastest girl in the school was at the start with Crystal and Hope as the two middle runners.
The redhead realized that Liz could easily outpace Jessica, her best runner, allowing Bonnie's two middle runners to simply hold the lead since their pace equalled Tara's and Amanda's. Kim realized Bonnie would be too far ahead for even her to catch by the time she received the handoff.
Although curious, Bonnie looked with derision at Amanda taking her place as the last relay and assumed her bitch pose, "What are you doing here loser, you actually expect to beat me to the finish line, where's Possible?" With a grin and a knowing look the chestnut haired girl merely looked towards the start line.
It took only a moment for the Bonnie to assess the situation; Kim would leave Liz practically standing at the start line, Jessica was faster than Crystal thus increasing the lead such that by the time Bonnie received her handoff from Hope, Amanda might be almost halfway to the finish.
As it turned out the acerbic athlete was spot on with her assessment and although a prodigious effort brought her within a pace of Kim's slowest runner, she still placed second. Bonnie was steamed enough at being beat by a fourth rate athlete, seeing her green-eyed rival with a smug look on her face made it worse. For her part, Amanda glowed with pride at receiving her first ever ribbon and putting her arm through Ron's made sure they, with their ribbons, were always in Bonnie's line of sight.
It was no surprise to anyone seeing Kim and Walter standing on the first place podium at the end of the Middleton Elementary Track and Field Day. Pleased enough with her own performance, Kim looked with satisfaction at the beaming face of Amanda. Very much like Ron in dress and deportment and very unsure of herself, she was however incredibly pretty with short, wavy chestnut hair, hazel eyes that seemed to change to gold in the right light, tawny skin and an engaging smile. Knowing she was instrumental in setting up the win the redhead nonetheless was proud of her friend crossing the finish line first, more so since it was Bonnie she beat.
Caught up in the moment, Walter leaned over towards Kim, "Way to go Muffinator."
'That is getting so old,' thought Kim with irritation then she turned her head to chastise her classmate, "Stop calling me Muff…."
Amidst a chorus of woots, whistles, and general applause Jhessa, Ron, Tara, Amanda and especially Bonnie stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed in disbelief as they watched Kim turn her head and give Walter a kiss on the cheek.
Off to the side a hateful young boy with a cane walked away with his two cohorts.
That evening Kimmie Cub had to endure a lengthy discourse from her dad about being too young to have a boyfriend.
"Ok Pumpkin, your best assets are your incredible speed and agility combined with a decent amount of strength not apparent at first glance since you appear slight in stature. Someone said the best defence against an attack is to not be there when it hits; your ability to dodge is uncanny; with your mobility you can practically attack from any direction at will then spring out of the way of a counter attack."
After supper an invigorated Kim inserted a tape in the VCR. While listening to the comments of the news reporter she grinned when she overheard Shego in the background, "Let's go Mego, the Wego's are hungry and the little spuds' whining is driving me nuts."
The first illicit surveillance camera was found quite by accident; angering the girl who commented to herself, 'You're so busted!' The incident was not reported because it would warn the perpetrators and as much hard evidence as possible had to be acquired. Determining the guilty parties was a no-brainer and after studying their habits she formulated a plan. The mission had to be accomplished without the higher-ups interfering so she had a diversion set up which would give her a window of opportunity of about an hour, more than she would need.
On the day of the mission the determined girl snuck to where her targets were watching their computer monitor and was amazed at the coverage their cameras had; at least one in every room with one having six. Backing off she waited for the first one to leave for the washroom; advancing quietly to the one by the computer she quickly hooked her arm around his neck to choke off any outcry and applied a large square of duct tape to muffle any noise. Her strength made any attempts at escape futile and it only took a few moments to bind her captive. The young operative waited for the accomplice….
Jhessa's voice could be heard as the front door opened, "Honestly Ronnie, I couldn't stand that place; it reeked of burnt pizza." The sitter stumbled into Ron and followed his gaze to see the Tweebs hanging by their wrists on ropes tied to the balcony rail of the front hall. That in itself was an attention grabber, the fact the two boys were stark naked really topped it off.
Kim smiled mischievously, "So Ron, did you enjoy playing that new Captain Constellation arcade game at the Partytorium?"
"Sure did KP, thanks for the money," replied the blond happily, "I managed to get Jhessa to play too, man she was killing aliens like she had a grudge or somethin'. Oh and Amanda was there with her mom waiting to pick up a pizza and I think she wanted to play too but she didn't have any money so I shared some of the money you gave me with Amanda, hope that's alright."
"Oh Ron, that was too sweet, of course I don't mind," said a pleased Kim.
'Sure, a real little Sir Lancelot,' groused Jhessa then glaring at Kim complained, "At least we had something to do; they claimed the order was meant to be picked up an hour later."
Olive eyes looked with exaggerated contriteness at the babysitter, "Oopsy, did I phone in the wrong pickup time? I'm sorry." Kim fired off a puppy dog pout.
"Wow KP, your brothers are really hung," exclaimed the blond causing the teen to chortle uncontrollably.
"I was the best knot tier in my Pixie Den," smiled Kim, "And thanks for the distraction Ron, you were a great help."
"Anytime KP," replied the proud friend.
"Princess, I'm impressed; this uh mission you and Ronnie pulled off would do Team Go proud, it's a work of art. What do you call it?" asked a still giggling Jhessa.
The young girl glared at her brothers, "I dunno, operation revenge for scenario five, I guess. You guys should know better, I always catch you."
Ron added ominously, "I think it'll be called two weeks grounding once your mom and dad find out."
Reaching into her brown bear back pack Kim pulled out a tangled mass of wires and mini-cams then some video tapes, "And they'll also find out about how the Tweebs spied on everyone in the house. I found a camera in every room with six in my room alone and two in mom and dad's and these little cameras look pretty cutting edge; how much ya wanna bet they came from the space center?"
Judging by the Tweeb's expression in their eyes Jhessa offered a solution, "I figure I'll be babysitting you guys this summer so I offer a deal; peace between you two spuds…"
The younger girl's ears perked up, 'Spuds, who talks like that?' Then her eyes narrowed momentarily in suspicion.
"…and Kimmie till school starts again and this evidence stays in my safe keeping, any conflicts started by you and this evidence becomes public knowledge." Pulling a camera out of her purse and passing it to the still pondering girl added, "Here Kimmie, you can add a little extra leverage for when school starts, and once your done...gee Princess, enjoying yourself much…get your brothers down and dressed 'cause I've got three pizzas and six quarts of soda to watch 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3' and 'Independence Day'."
Shego sprinted down the main hallway of her school trying to get to the gymnasium before the Cheer Regionals finished; the cheers, applause and booming music reverberating all around. The teen had promised to be there to watch her lead the cheer squad to victory. As the anxious sprinter rounded a corner and approached the gym doors everything became silent; suddenly overcome with loneliness the young woman realized she had broken her promise and missed the competition. Nonetheless the teen entered the gym, elbowing past the people leaving and made it inside just in time to see a flash of red hair as the door to the locker room closed. She hears a loud sharp whistle and the distraught teen turns to look into the stands, seeing herself standing in her green and black body suit returning the gaze. The doppelganger shook her head slowly. The confused young woman realizes the green and black coloured sections of the other woman's outfit are reversed….
The babysitter woke with a start, needing a few moments to gain her bearings; looking around she realized she was sitting in the armchair of the Possible's family room. 'This dream is getting so old,' Shego sighs heavily, 'Uncle Percy is still playing catch-up with the scans but he guesses my sudden crush may not have been hormones but the two memory templates coinciding on Jhessy's emergency visit at Go Memorial. So maybe it's gratitude. Is she my hero on a subconscious level? Crushing on the woman's a little over the top…but what's not to like, she's smart and cute…gaaggh, stop it Ravens you don't even swing that way….
A familiar voice giggled, "Sure you do, I'm exactly you and I do."
With a huff and a soft growl Jhessa turned her head toward the voice, "Give it a rest Jhessy," and realized there was no one there.
The confused young woman rubbed her eyes hard with the palms of her hands, 'You're losin' it Ravens.' She turned off the TV and VCR and looked around. The empty pizza boxes on the coffee table reaffirmed her opinion that there was no such thing as leftover pizza in the Possible household. The twins were on the couch entangled in pillows, blankets and each other, mouths open and drooling; they reminded her of a couple of puppies. On the floor Shego saw Ron spread inelegantly, limbs splayed out; beside him lay Kim neatly wrapped in a blanket, clutching her Pandaroo to her chest, back snuggled against her best friend and head pillowed on his arm. She looked more closely at the girl, 'Hey, never noticed before; is that the shape of her mouth when she's relaxed or is that a little smile?
Jade eyes beheld the future Team Possible and the hero-villain reflected, 'No wonder you were...will…are…argh! a solid team at sixteen, you started early. Ten years old and the sidekick-to-be already has your back covered in his sleep, Kimmie.'
After supper Kim, exultant after kicking Jhessa's butt during that day's sparring, grabbed her parents' video cam to examine the footage at the dojo, she wanted to learn any new tricks to repeat the performance. After a few minutes the redhead's brow furrowed; selecting a certain tape for the VCR she inserted it and pressed play. The next hour or so saw extensive use of the pause buttons and perusal of several of confiscated 'surveillance' tapes.
The week before Middle School
Anguished, the younger redhead yelled at her mother, "It's not fair, I can't be having braces now, Bonnie will have a field day humiliating me!"
Walking into the kitchen Jim and Tim interjected, "You're just upset…"
"…you won't be able…"
"…to do kissie-face…"
"…with your boyfriend Walter."
The already angry girl screamed, "HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" With a predatory glare aimed at her brothers asked, "Jhessa, what was the shutter speed on that camera you loaned me?"
Turning her head to hide a smirk from Ann the teen answered, "Oh I think it was set at ISO 200 Cupcake."
With scowls on their faces the twins each grabbed a juice box from the fridge, "Let's go wait out front for Ron Jim, we'll get cooties if we stay in here listening to girl talk."
Taking a sip of her coffee the mother knew she had just missed something but was confident she would get to the bottom of it eventually, "Kimmie, I can talk to Bonnie's mom, maybe she can get Bonnie to ease off."
"You ought to know better than that, she doesn't listen to her mother anymore than she does to anyone else, you can't tell her anything. You might as well tattoo 'Out of Order' behind each ear," retorted Kim.
The conversation was interrupted and everyone startled at the sound of the front door violently thrust open against the wall, eyes opening wide when they heard Tim yell, "MOM, MOM 911!"
With a surgeon for a mother combined with a family prone to adventurous injuries it had been established that a shouted 9-1-1 was to be treated as a legitimate and serious alert.
Right after Tim's shout the hysterical sobs of a young girl could be heard; Kim bolted for the front, "Mom, that's Amanda."
Passing his sister as he entered the kitchen the brother reported to his mother, "Its Ron Mom, he got beat up real bad like in there's blood everywhere!"
As she ran to the front with Jhessa, Ann yelled at her son, "Get my trauma kit stat!"
The two women ran into the family room to see Ron already on the couch with the young redhead administering first aid; nearby Amanda was shaking, tearfully mumbling repeatedly, "I'm sorry."
With tears in her eyes Kim reported to her mother, "He can talk ok but he says his ribs hurt to breath and I think is right shoulder isn't where its supposed to be, he says it hurts the worst; can't you give him something for the pain?"
Jhessa looked on intently, Ron had been worked over good; a dislocated right shoulder, possible rib injuries, the left eye swollen shut, his nose and mouth bloodied with the possibility of a concussion. She watched Amanda, still apologizing kneel next to her injured friend, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. It was then she noticed the large contusion on the side of her face inciting sudden anger in the young woman. 'Figure I'm not so bad ass as to peg a coupl'o ten year olds, the perv's gonna get fisted green some nasty.' Feeling a familiar pressure building within her hands she looked down to see slender wisps of plasma dancing across them; jerking her arms behind her back she worked on calming down to dissipate the energy. Seeing Ann busy calling for an ambulance the teen turned to the kids.
"I'm sorry Ronnie, I couldn't get anybody to help, they just stood there, and when I tried he hit me with a stick," a distraught Amanda sobbed, "I wish I could've been as good as Kimmie."
"That's ok, KP's had lot's more practice at this than you," the blond replied, his voice slurred through swollen lips.
Kim spoke to Amanda, "Who hit you?"
The hazel-eyed girl wiped away tears, "Zach did this while Arnie and Nate beat up Ron."
"They were picking on Amanda at the park KP I couldn't let them do that. Sorry I couldn't stop him, he must've snuck by me while I was blocking Arnie's fists with my face," mumble Ron through swollen lips.
Giving her blond friend another kiss on the forehead the injured girl continued, "Arnie was bragging how much tougher than you he was 'cause he could beat up your best friend and you wouldn't do anything about it because you're chicken and not as tough as you make everyone think."
Her face taking on a grim cast the green-eyed girl said one word, "Where?"
"Probably his hangout in the woods," speculated Amanda.
"KP, you don't have to do this," mumbled Ron.
Jhessa looked into enraged olive eyes and suddenly remembered five time streams ago the grim face of a sixteen year old Kim aiming her hairdryer at Shego, the grapple still covered in Drakken's blood. Suddenly the girl sprang up and sprinted out the door.
"Kimmie, where are you going?" shouted the confused mother, still on the phone, then looking at Jhessa, "What happened?"
"Custer called her out, he's challenging her for who's gonna be the alpha dog in middle school," looking at Ron the teen remembered the vengeful girl's expression, "but he got personal this time."
The twins confirmed Jhessa's sentiment, "We saw the fight last spring, mom, the teachers were around, she went easy on him…"
"…this time she's serious…."
"…and there ain't gonna be grownups…"
"…and she ain't takin' prisoners this time."
Ann looked back at the sitter, "I have to wait for the ambulance and set Ron's shoulder; Jhessa can you chase her down? The last time she went after another kid in that frame of mind we almost got pulled into a civil suit and she was only eight, I'd hate to think what she'd do to Arnie right now."
Determined jade eyes looked at the twins, "Where would she go?"
Amanda took a deep breath to control her sobbing, "Arnie said he'd be at his hideout if Kim has the guts to show up."
The twins spoke up, "It's a clearing in some woods at the top of the ravine…"
"…where the fitness trail does an S-bend…"
"…there's a hidden trail up the ravine that Kim and Ron use…"
"…for a short cut to the playground…"
"…go out the back yard, second bush from the right…"
"…and straight on to the top."
Kim and Ron's secret path was barely worn since they were the only ones to use it such that one could hardly tell there was anything there at all. The young Pixie took to heart the lessons on stealth and infiltration taught by her Pixie Den Mother, Mr. Barkin, thus she and her best friend never exited onto the fitness trail from the same place twice in a row.
Kim crept towards the sound of a young boy ranting; she looked up into the tree branches and scampered effortlessly up a tree trunk, brachiating through the branches towards the clearing, 'Mr. Barkin always teaches, people rarely look up; Ron would freak if he saw me doing this, he'd think I'd gone full monkey on him.'
From her vantage point above the clearing Kim watched Custer practicing a kata while Nate, and Zach carrying a short, stout branch, seemed to be wandering about nervously. Vengeful eyes scanned and assessed the clearing; for the coming fight she was going to take out a villain and his henchmen. Since they chose to make it personal, she chose to rearrange anatomy.
Anger seething the girl spots a slender branch about ten feet ahead of her, 'That'll do.' Jumping forward she grabs it, her weight bending it to function as a rope allowing Kim to swing down and connect both feet into Custer's back sending him sprawling several feet away. Doing a back flip she lands on her feet sprinting towards Nate whose shock at the redhead's sudden attack leaves him stunned into inaction much to his impending discomfort, the flying kick to his stomach persuading the contents therein to vacate rather violently.
Realizing he was outnumbered one to one Zach attempts a hasty advance to the rear only to find the trail leaving the clearing blocked by a furious girl. He was not quick enough to dodge the haymaker to the side of the head while hearing a voice speaking through clenched teeth, "That's for Amanda!" The excruciating kick to the groin was punctuated with, "And that's for her pain and suffering, creep."
Kim cocked her ear at a noise behind her; leaning slightly to her right she watched Arnie and his flying kick sail past.
"Agh, how'd you hear me coming, I had you," spat the frustrated bully as he recovered.
As she glided gracefully across the clearing fists at the ready the girl cast a wary eye at her first two victims, Nate suffering from dry heaves and Zach retching from the pain between his legs; she cast a stone-faced and grim gaze at Ron's tormentor.
Having gone swimming that day with Jhessa Kim was still wearing her pink one piece swimsuit, white shorts and sneakers thus Arnie was able to discern for the first time the flowing muscles gracing his opponent's body.
Manoeuvring with Kim the boy sneered at his foe, "So Possible, it's been goin' great for ya this year hasn't it? Ya think you're all that with that Supreme Leader stuff. You were just a teacher's pet, how else could your grades get better or how you never got in trouble when you butted into my business. You're a control freak, Bonnie had you figured out; I wasn't trying to control the schoolyard, all I wanted was to make sure I got respect and if someone dissed me it was my right to get that respect back and you had no business getting in the way. Bonnie told me Ron and Amanda were the worst ones dissing me behind my back so I had to teach 'em some respect when you weren't around. The royal court only made you leader because you threatened them, I know that for a fact. The same thing with track and field, Bonnie told me how everyone was afraid to try because they knew you'd beat them up if you didn't win. Bonnie's the only one with the guts to stand up to you so she's not afraid to tell the truth. And let's not forget your new boyfriend Walter, he told me he only hangs around with you 'cause it's easy getting a kiss from you."
Although Arnie's rant was not much more than venting he did expect some reaction instead he only saw the slight narrowing of green eyes already blazing with an intensity he never saw in the schoolyard, the bully assumed a defensive stance.
The gliding pace taught by Shego made it difficult for Kim's opponent to judge her speed, he couldn't tell if she ready to drop into a stance or keep moving never mind what style she was using; to Arnie it almost seemed as if the redhead were prowling. He watched her move in for an attack and he prepared for her trademark back circle kick; instead he was shocked when he barely got his leg out of the way of a crescent kick to the inside of his right knee, thinking the redhead was out of position he countered with a right cross. Bending at the waist and twisting sideways she dodged the swing, bringing up her thrusting leg into an outside crescent kick that buried itself into his ribs on the right side.
The wind knocked out of him Custer stepped back rapidly to re-establish himself only to find Kim move right in close to launch a combination punch, breaking his nose with a quick right jab, followed by a brutal left hook and left knee into already sore ribs. Arnie was shocked and surprised, 'Ow, she's never hit that hard before.'
Scrambling back to get some distance, his ribs complaining the bully gasped out, "You're breaking tourney rules, you're supposed to back off and reset after a hit, not keep going."
Kim graced her opponent with a look of contempt as she continued to prowl around him, "This ain't the dojo, creep, this is the real world, no teachers, no parents, no sensei, no witnesses: this is my jungle, you're just living in it and 'though I'll stick up for anybody who gets bullied, you beat up my best friend; this is personal."
As Kim glided in the battered boy attacked with a roundhouse kick to her head. Twisting her torso and leaning to the left allowed his foot to sail past her shoulder; raising her right arm to brace on the inside of the ankle the determined girl mercilessly slammed her left fist three times into Custer's recently recovered knee, eliciting a sob of pain from the boy.
Before Arnie could even fall to the ground the redhead, spinning around so rapidly her ponytail extended horizontally, slammed her right elbow into her foe's face assisting his decent to the ground.
Her breathing deep yet in control the vigilante glared at her weeping foe with disdain, "Typical bully, you can dish it but you can't take it, Ron took as much if not worse from you and I didn't see him cry one bit. Who's the loser now?" Startled by the sound of slow, measured clapping off to the side she looked over to see Shego and although she appeared sombre, there was definitely a glint of approval in her eyes.
"Flawless victory Kimmie, you done me proud," she praised; then with a scowl said, "Now finish him."
The girl was confused, "I already beat him, what else is there?"
"Yeah, well you know he challenged you for who was the strongest, and you won. But how did he send that challenge? Did he walk up to you on the street or in the playground to challenge you directly; no he went and beat up someone you love as much if not more than your parents. He made it personal Kim, that's outside the challenge, now it's payback time."
"So then Shego, what's the sitch for a superhero when it gets personal?"
"We're not allowed to get pers…hey!"
"You're busted Shego, I figured you out and when I told Mom she told me about the hospital thing; we'll talk later. So answer my question."
"Well, when we beat the bad guys we pretty much have to turn them in to Global Justice or the military. If they're small time to the cops. But there aren't jails for ten year olds and like I said, remember what they did to Ronnie and Amanda, this is personal. I say, payback's the sitch Kimmie, finish him."
"So how do I do that?" asked the stony-faced girl.
"Use your imagination, Princess," Shego answered with an evil smile.
Cold green eyes turned to the boy crying on the ground clutching his knee….
Operational Log
22 August 2029(Internal Chronology) Brigadier Monique Load, CinC Strategic Archival Intelligence reporting:
Every mole rat of the Rufus Series that can be spared is doing reconnaissance of whenever part of the time stream we can access. The teen Kim and Ron haven't been found yet. Curiously, the 'superhero Shego' is spending a lot of time with a young Kim; don't know if this good or bad.
The Supreme One did an extensive elimination of all historical records, presumably to destroy all evidence of how she came to power. However we have a breakthrough, an old hard drive found in the ruins of an old office building offered two words of interest: GoCorp and neuro-compliance chip.
A/N
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