Green light fills up dreary skies over war torn lands. It's humanity's last stand against the Lowardians. Alien walkers wrestle with Doctor Drakken's plant army, the mutant plants toppling the walkers with ease. Shego storms the battlefield, her sheer power coloring the sky. Thunder booms and flares with each strike she makes, her wrath shattering the long legs of the walkers. Drakken cackles gleefully, flying overhead in his hovercraft. Lasers fire from his many cannons, dismantling the walkers with as much ease as Shego's wrath.
Meanwhile, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable fight back-to-back. Both of them are fresh out of high school and about the same height. She has sweeping auburn hair with hopeful green eyes. He has brown eyes, freckles, noodly arms, and short blonde hair with a noticeable cowlick. They square off with the nefarious Warhok and Warmonga.
It's harmony. Good and evil unite to vanquish a greater foe.
Warhok, the hulking green mass of muscle, dives at Kim. Ron bows low and spins into a deft sweep kick. Glowing blue light trails after his heel, and he knocks Warhok clean in the chest, knocking him backwards.
Ron looks back and says something. What exactly, he says, Kim doesn't know. The air around his mouth distorts and vibrates, concealing his lip movements. The sounds are muffled, like they're in a vacuum, but he is still shrill with emotion. He looks at her with wide, pleading eyes. Kim tries to look at him, tries to understand, but Warmonga keeps clawing at her.
Kim kicks and kicks, warding Warmonga off. Kim spares a risky glance over her shoulder.
"Ron! Keep your head in the game!" she scolds.
A crackle of thunder ruptures the sky, and the green light glows brighter. Ron turns towards her. Blurts out more gibberish.
She puts her hands on his shoulders, eyes drilling into his.
He gets more and more frantic, gesturing animatedly around them. Suddenly, he grabs her shoulders, rocking her back-and-forth in a frenzy. He bows his head against her chest, and looks up at her with tears streaking his cheeks. He reaches up towards her face, hand shaking.
She takes his hand and places it on her cheek.
"Ron," she says, and traces of Shego's glow escape onto their faces. Her skin ignites in feeling, the heat sending prickles down the length of her flesh. Her eyes water, and she takes Ron by the jaw. Intending to show him courage, it falters fast. She stammers for a moment while he waits with bated breath.
His dependency on her makes her angry, as does her dependency on him. Why can't she be strong enough for the two of them, even when in the eye of the Apocalypse? She's been training her whole life for this and—
She falters. Becomes weak. She can't help it.
"Ron!" Her voice is strangled and anguished. "You don't think I'm scared too?"
The green light goes up like an atom bomb, consuming everything. The power rushes through their bodies, erasing it all under an unearthly shade of green. Skin chips off their bones, and Kim's arms lash out to ensnare Ron in a crushing embrace. But he's gone. Her arms clap to her chest. She breathes her last before—
She awakens with a start, snapping out of her daydream. She pats down the floor to the aircraft, and feels the rumble beneath her palms. She pats down her arms and feels the long gloves she needs to wear for this mission. Sinks her fingers deep into the fabric, grounding herself for the moment. She looks back up at Ron and Wade; both of them have their game faces on. Ron is in a tuxedo, and she is in a sleeveless, black dress with nylons. Wade, the plump thirteen-year-old black protege, wears his usual turquoise t-shirt and jeans.
Kim remembers what Ron and Wade just told her.
"Drakken and Shego are evil again?" she blurts out.
I'M SCARED TOO
The Bermuda Triangle: Miami, Florida
August 1st, 9:05PM
Ron draws back, too nervous to say anything, so it's Wade who steps up to the plate.
He throws a manilla folder before Kim, the impact knocking pictures loose. They slide towards Kim and she takes a look. Evidently, someone was trying to burn their way through a vault door, but they didn't get to finish. A half-circle of melted steel remains. The scorch marks resemble Shego's brutal style.
"What's in the vault?" Kim asks.
Wade shrugs. "No idea, but it's probably bad news, Kim. These pictures are from one of the Hench Co. labs."
Kim eyes the photos warily. Pulls her backpack straps on tight, and looks up at Wade. "Where'd you get this?"
"An anonymous contact," Wade replies. "I don't know who it is, but that's why we're flying over the Bermuda Triangle right now. Whoever our guy is, he's in there. You need to drop onto the roof, sneak in, and find our contact."
"Why all the theatrics?" Kim is quick to respond. "Why can't he just tell us who he is?"
Wade shakes his head. "No idea, but they specifically called for us through the old website."
"That's… odd," Kim says. Ever since Ron and her got picked up as Global Justice "Interns" following the actual Lowardian Invasion, they've hardly had time to check their old website: . Occasionally requests come in. Local requests. Babysitting, saving cats from trees, etc. She feels guilty ignoring them, but well… there's bigger fish to fry nowadays.
"Kim," Ron says, his voice is scratchy and uneven as ever, with its classic peaks and valleys. "I know you don't want to hear this, but Drakken and Shego are back. And with the training they've received as Global Justice agents, we gotta be ready."
Kim picks up the photo and scans it with her eyes, desperately searching for some kind of flaw, some kind of mistake that tells her it's faked. Nothing catches her eye. She looks back up at Ron. "It could be an impostor. They might be looking to frame Shego."
Wade frowns. "That may be—but you guys need to make the jump now if you're going to rendez-vous with our contact on time. Apparently, time is of the essence."
Kim shoots a significant look at Ron. He nods back with fierce determination. She looks at Wade.
"Open the hangar."
Within thirty seconds, Kim is free falling through the air. She spreads her limbs wide, the vicious winds whipping her ponytail back. She closes her eyes and tries to find her center. Listens to the wind rushing past her. Feels the adrenaline coursing through her body. For a moment, a soft smile grows across her face, but an ear-splitting shriek from her hapless boyfriend snaps her out of it.
She flips around, craning her neck against her chest to get a better look at—
"Oh no."
Ron flips himself into panicked corkscrews and twists, limbs flapping desperately to keep himself afloat. Despite having all the Mystical Monkey Magic in the world, he's still a baby about free falling.
"Ron!" Kim calls out, but he doesn't hear her. Shaking her head, muttering under her breath, she turns on her radio. "Ron! Calm down, now. If the Triangle sees us, we're sitting ducks up here."
Ron looks down at her, mouth agape. He clicks his heels together, and they spark. Powerful blue lights ejects from the soles of his shoes, ejecting him downwards, sending him within range of Kim. He extends a hand to her.
Reluctantly, she takes it. Squeezes his hand tight. Something within him relaxes, and the two plummet together. Rufus, their chatterbox of a naked mole rat, pops his head out of Ron's cargo pants and wipes the sweat from his brow.
"Together, forever!" Rufus cheers. "Heh heh."
"You brought Rufus?" Kim frowns. "Betty said—"
"Yeah, yeah." Ron pets the top of Rufus's head with his index finger, poking him back into his pocket. "What Betty still doesn't realize is that the true success to Team Possible is the little pink guy, isn't that right, Rufus?"
"Yeah!" Rufus pops out again, only to get pushed deeper into the pocket.
Kim scoffs and rolls her eyes. No use worrying about the flagrant violation of Global Justice's strict set of rules. Best she can do is keeps her eyes on the prize.
The Bermuda Triangle comes in range. It's part of a chain of nightclubs across the globe, home to the seediest of dealings. Each one is designed differently. This one, being the satellite location, is the most extravagant. Towering walls with priceless decor, only the most upper crust of society can afford to dine in.
A year or so ago, Doctor Drakken came to this specific location to get information on Project Hephaestus, which led him to Kim's father.
Spotlights move through the air, illuminating the sky with beautiful pinks and yellows. Kim pulls Ron down to her side, grabbing onto his other hand. Eyes locked with his, she swerves them through the air, narrowly avoiding slipping into the pink spotlight's stream. They fall and fall and—
"Kim, aren't you going to release the parachute?" Ron gulps.
Kim narrows her eyes. The roof gets closer.
Closer.
Suddenly, she imagines herself splattering against the cement, her body crushed into powder from the impact, and she feels… a bizarre sense of relief.
"Kim!?" Ron shrieks.
Kim snaps awake and tugs on the chord. The parachute ejects itself last second, yanking the duo upward several feet, killing their momentum. Gently, they glide the rest of the way down… all ten feet of it.
Kim drops to her knee, and stuffs as much of the parachute back into the backpack as she can. Meanwhile, Ron wanders off from her, stretching his limbs out. All the while, Kim's heart pounds.
Just what the Hell was that? she thinks. And why did she feel relief?
Tap tap! She hears his footsteps loud and clear. Wait, why are Ron's footsteps so loud—she turns back and sees Ron unknowingly step onto one of the Bermuda Triangle's glass ceilings.
"Geez," Ron exclaims. "That was rough."
"Ron!" Kim hisses. "They can see you!"
"Who?" Ron frowns, looking from side-to-side. "I don't see nobody or nothin' that can—" His head cranes down and he finally notices the glass floor. "—huh, what the—ah! KP!"
Kim seethes under her breath. Scrambles over to Ron and grabs him by the loop of his backpack. She drags him backwards, but Ron digs his heels into the glass—into the smooth, smooth glass that instead causes Ron to slip and slide. The duo tumble over each other, hitting the glass hard.
Thump!
Kim gnashes her teeth, rolls off the glass, and pulls Ron along with her.
Just in time for three very familiar faces to look up through the glass all squinty-eyed.
"Kim," Ron urges in his hysteria. "It's—it's—"
Kim chances a look through the glass and gulps.
It's Shego, Doctor Drakken, and Doctor Elizabeth Director aka "Betty."
Shego is as beautiful as ever. She has sharp cheekbones, a pointed jaw, and thick eyebrows. Her long, raven hair cascades down to her ankles. Most remarkably, her skin is chalk white. Gone is the green-and-black catsuit of old, she wears a charcoal black suit with an emerald green blouse.
Doctor Drakken is a blue man with a scar running under his left eye. He has a shark-like grin when the moment calls for it, though currently his face is locked into a scowl. He slouches over himself. Like Ron, he wears a tuxedo, though Kim is positive the tie is a clip-on. Formerly, Drakken's raggedy black hair was tied back into a tiny ponytail, but now his long locks run free, hanging down to his shoulders.
Doctor Director has brown hair cropped up to her neck and an eye-patch. Legend has it she still has both eyes, she only wears an eyepatch because her fraternal twin brother, Gemini, did in fact lose an eye. She's dressed a little more butch than the rest, wearing slacks, a charcoal black vest, and a long black coat that hovers around her ankles.
After the Lowardian Invasion, Global Justice granted Doctor Drakken and Shego a pardon for their crimes… but there was a loophole. To qualify for the pardon, they would need to serve Global Justice as agents for at least one calendar year. Due to Shego's skill and grace, the duo have shot up the ladder quickly. Now they serve as Betty's personal bodyguards.
Kim grabs Ron by the face, and pulls his head above their strewn-over bodies. "Quick. Super hearing. Go."
Ron sweats. "Um. Um."
"Ron!" Kim hisses. "Like we've been training."
"Right, right." Ron shakes it off fast. Cups a hand behind his ear and looks down seriously. "Mystical Monkey Monitor, go!" he mutters to himself for encouragement.
Ron repeats everything from down below to Kim in a whisper.
Drakken picks at his ear. "Was that a Buffoon I heard?"
"You think any annoying sound is the Buffoon, Drak," Shego laughs. "Sounds like you got Team Possible PTSD more than anything."
"Hush with the banter," Betty sighs, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "It was obviously just an animal. Some hapless, likely dead animal. Perhaps we'll inform the waitstaff."
Shego looks up, and Kim swears the green woman winks at the two of them.
Drakken huffs. "As your bodyguard, Beatrice—"
"Don't call me that," Betty groans.
Drakken continues, nonplussed. "—I would suggest we at least send Shego up there to investigate."
"Absolutely not," Betty snips. "I need the two of you on this one. I'm suspecting Hench will try to pull a fast one on us, and I'm obviously not for that."
The trio strut out of view. Ron drops his hand to his lap and looks at Kim seriously. "So Jack Hench is involved in this?"
Kim frowns. "Yeah. Well, I guess that makes sense… Big Daddy Brotherson is a broker nowadays—"
Ron raises an eyebrow.
Kim sighs. "That means he brings parties together for trade-offs. He facilitates meets and collects payment." An awkward pause lingers between them. She gets to her feet and offers a hand to Ron.
He doesn't take it. Pushes himself up on his own and heads towards the ventilation duct.
"Ron," Kim calls out.
He ignores her, taking a knee before the duct. Shoots four quick Mystical Monkey Munitions (Kim likes to call them lasers, but Ron insists on the alliteration scheme) into the screws holding the duct to its piping. The screws pop out, and Ron neatly catches them. He sets them aside, and gently pulls free their entrance. Gestures for Kim to take the lead.
"Milady?" He grins mischievously.
"Ron, please don't ignore me," Kim sighs. "I'm trying to apologize for being so handsy with you back there."
Ron shrugs. Dives into the duct on his hands and knees. "NP, KP."
She rolls her eyes and goes after him.
The duct is tight and narrow. If she recalls correctly, this is exactly how they got in last time.
"Ron, I—" She stops when she notices how far ahead Ron is. Grimacing, she scuttles forward quickly, catching up with him fast. "Ron, seriously. I'm sorry."
"Are you?" Ron asks. "'Cause, uh, it ain't the first time, KP."
She winces. "I know, it's just—GJ has put me in a difficult spot, alright?"
"You didn't have to take the job offer."
"You know I did," she says, anger rising back into her voice. "I have to be your Handler, Ron. If it wasn't me, it'd be Du or somebody, and we'd be separated. We both know I'm the best person to train you on your powers."
"Uh huh," Ron drawls. "Methinks that'd be Yamanouchi, but sure."
"Yamanouchi, yeah!" Rufus cheers.
"Ugh, you're seriously not considering jumping ship to take Sensei up on his offer, are you?" Kim says. "Because—"
Ron suddenly whirls around, pressing a finger against her mouth. She groans, blowing a hair out of her eyes when he pulls away.
"No," Ron chirps. "I'm with you, KP. Okay?"
Her expression softens, but only for a moment. Very quickly, it's replaced by a bubbling feeling of dread in her stomach. While Ron moves on ahead towards the rendez-vous point, she squirms behind him.
Would it be easier if she just told him the truth right now of what's really going on with her and Global Justice? Or would it be better to wait until the end of the mission?
Suddenly, a red laser tears through the duct. Ron leaps backwards like a scared cat, thudding into the ceiling, and falling on his jaw. Another laser cuts through, and Kim scuttles backwards. But it's no use. The laser works its way around the duct, cutting a circular path, and—
—it completely falls out from the ceiling. Kim dives forward, grabs Ron in a desperate embrace, and flips him over her body—
CRASH!
The duct hits the floor, and Kim's back roars with pain. Before checking on Ron, she cracks her neck backwards to look outside the vent, and sees two legs standing just beyond them. She reaches into her utility belt for something, anything, that can help them, but then the mysterious figure speaks.
"I apologize for the dramatic entrance, but we're short on time here."
The voice is familiar, but not enough for Kim to recognize it right away.
A laser gun drops at their assailant's feet. "Come out," he says. "Trust that I won't shoot you."
Kim rolls her eyes and squeezes out from under Ron, who clings to her like a needy child. She shoots a scathing look back at him, and meekly he surrenders his hold on her. The duo leave from opposite ends of the duct, getting to their feet to meet eyes with…
…Hank Perkins, Big Time Villainy Consultant, recently hired at the Bermuda Triangle. Pencil thin, dressed in a pastel blue suit with a checkered bowtie. His hairline has receded far back. The formerly young and chipper temp has aged eons in but a few months. Gray hairs galore complete with crows' feet.
Hank picks up the laser gun and gestures at a meeting table just behind him. It's a small private party room, cut off from the main floor of the house.
Kim and Ron take a seat. Hank remains standing.
He pulls a manilla folder from his blazer and tosses it onto the table. The same pictures Wade showed them slide out.
Kim blinks rapidly. "You're our contact?"
Hank fails to be impressed. "Big Daddy won't listen to reason. I told him that Drakken and Shego just tried to rob Jack Hench blind, and what does he do?"
"He sets a meet," Kim says quickly. Ron lags behind, looking from side-to-side for help.
"He sets a—yes," Hank sighs. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make sure the deal goes down swimmingly. A mission that I'll have to extend to you and you alone, Miss Possible."
Ron blinks. "What—what about me?" Hank leers at Ron with disappointment. Monkey-Boy continues, "I'm the guy who threw two aliens into their own spaceship, alright? I got all the Mystical Monkey Magic in the world, I can easily take on Drakken and Shego."
Kim shoots Ron a worried glance before locking eyes with Hank. "Did you watch us come in?"
"Yes," Hank snips. "If it had been just you, Miss Possible, I wouldn't have noticed you. But him?" And at this, he goes out of his way to point an accusatory figure at Ron. "Your sidekick, who was blundering all the way? I won't have it."
Kim blanches, shoving herself deeper into her seat. Taking on Drakken and Shego usually wouldn't be a tall order… but after everything that's happened…
…After that fantasy she just had about the Invasion… the one Ron snapped her out of…
"You don't think I'm scared too?"
Despite that being a fantasy, what Kim said is still real, and Ron might as well have been just as nonsensical. He doesn't understand. Possibly, he'll never understand. His whole life he's used Kim as a role model to aspire to, and while he knows Kim has flaws, he doesn't quite get yet that she has problems. Serious ones.
Kim pulls the pictures closer and bites her lip. She's investigated Shego's crime scenes so many times now… and this picture definitely fits with all the other ones she's seen. But she can't accept that. Shego and Drakken turned a new leaf, and now they can all be friends…
…though the friend part hasn't really happened yet. She's sure one day Kim and Ron will bump into Drakken and Shego at the water cooler…
…
…or maybe just Shego…
"How do you know it's Shego?" Kim asks.
Hank hacks some phlegm in his response. Teeth grit, he seethes. "Oh, come now. This is obviously Shego's handiwork. Can we get a grip on reality please?"
Kim considers her options. She needs Ron, because she's going to need him to take down Drakken and Shego. It's just not something she's capable of right now, but of course, if she tells Hank that, he won't give her the job at all.
So she lies. She says, "I can't run this solo. It's not how I like to work."
Ron smiles with relief.
Hank does the opposite. "Mm. Fine. Whatever. But if he's in on this, you keep a tight leash on your sidekick, got it?"
Kim grits her teeth, anger crawling through her veins. "Don't talk about him like that."
Ron presses his hand on top of Kim's.
"And he's not my sidekick," Kim corrects. "He's my partner. Arguably, he's more capable than even I am. If we do the job, he's there, got it?"
Hank narrows his eyes. "Fine. You make sure both parties walk away satisfied, then you'll receive the payment."
"Payment?" Ron blurts out.
Meanwhile, a dreamy grin plasters across Kim's face.
"Uh, I know you're new to this, Hanky-poo," Ron taunts. "But Team Possible doesn't take payment for—"
"How much?" Kim asks directly.
Hank quirks an eyebrow, his smile prim and mocking. "One hundred large."
One hundred thousand dollars… the answer to both Kim and Ron's problems… at least, for a problem Kim is aware of. Ron isn't, Ron has no idea, Ron has no idea about anything going on in Kim's head apparently.
"One hundred bucks?" Ron frowns. "Dude, you can't even buy two video games with that nowadays—"
Kim holds a finger to Ron's mouth, silencing him. "Why so high? What exactly is being traded here?"
Hank smiles, perhaps with a bit of pride. "I have no idea. These are orders that came down directly from Big "Big" Daddy himself. So I'm assuming—" He throws on a mocking voice. "—the fate of the world is at stake! Or some hullabaloo like that."
Ron frowns, miming the transition from big to bigger with his hands at his stomach. "Big Big Daddy? I thought Big Daddy was as a big as it gets—"
Kim elbows Ron in the gut. "He doesn't mean that. Heh. Obviously, he pays attention during our briefings and knows that Big "Big" Daddy Brotherson is a terrorist."
Hank raises an eyebrow. "If that's what you think, then you don't know the Bermuda Triangle."
Kim gives Hank an odd look. "I mean, in all our briefings with GJ, we've heard that the Bermuda Triangle has destroyed entire villages all just to find and kill one man. They've spread plagues, they've—"
"—been under new management since Lowardia. Old Big "Big" Daddy is out, and the new one is in," Hank finishes. "We're trying to stop World War III from happening, Possible. I would know, seeing how I'm the man's Number One. Normally, Big "Big" Daddy would have you destroy the properties being traded between parties today, but for reasons he won't explain, he just needs it to not fall into Drakken's hands."
Kim clenches her jaw. It's one hundred thousand dollars, yes, but it's one hundred thousand dollars at the expense of her integrity. She looks to Ron for help, then turns away when she sees that he's ready to call the whole thing off.
She looks up with determination. "We'll do it."
Kim and Ron march onto the main floor of the Triangle to find it absolutely packed. Thankfully, Blue Man and Green Lady are easy enough to pick out from a crowd. The trio of Global Justice agents make their way towards a bouncer in a leather trench-coat.
Ron extends a hand high into the air. "Hey—!"
Kim dives and shoves Ron's hand downwards, scuttling him off into a passing wave of waiters. She bows the two of them low enough so that when Shego glances backwards, she sees nothing.
Kim tugs on Ron's lapels, hissing through her teeth.
"Ron, we need to keep a low profile."
Unbeknownst to the Dynamic Duo, a particularly snooty waiter slowly pivots his napkin-veiled hand to the small of Kim's back, the muzzle of a gun poking out.
Ron frowns morosely. "I thought we could just awkwardly shove ourselves into the deal—"
"Yeah," Kim scolds. "Because Betty would totally let her interns do that—"
The murderous waiter speaks, his voice dry and cold. "I don't think Doctor Director would enjoy her interns calling her by her first name."
Kim exhales and closes her eyes.
Ron raises an eyebrow and looks at the waiter: sullen cheeks, a square jaw, beetle black eyes, a hook-nose, a jet-black mullet, and a pencil mustache. Ron furrows his brow, deeply perplexed, and then the waiter rips off the quarter-inch strip of fabric that is his facial hair.
Ron gasps. "Will Du?!"
Special Agent Will Du stares daggers at the boy before turning on Kim. "Just what are you doing here?"
"Did Hank hire you too?" Ron asks.
"Ron!" Kim growls, just as Drakken, Shego, and Betty disappear behind the curtain to Big Daddy's office. The curtain which surrounds the entirety of the main floor.
"What?" Ron whines. "I'm just trying to—"
"Listen," Kim urges. "If we do this right here, right now, we're going to blow our cover. All of us. And the fate of the world is at stake."
Will's eyes momentarily widen. "Is it?! …No! I'm not falling for that."
"Will, I'm serious, Ron and I are here to make sure that deal goes down right," Kim groans, turning her head to make pointed eye contact with Ron. With Ron, who raises an eyebrow back at her.
Will brings both hands to Kim's narrow shoulders, gently guiding her towards the kitchen.
"Agents Drakken and Shego should do just fine at that, I think," he growls. "You and I are going to have a nice little conversation, Possible, while Stopstop here takes his seat at the kids' table."
"Alright, fine," Kim groans in mock-defeat, her face still turned towards Ron's. Her eyes blink rapidly in a Morse Code-sort of sequence, one that Ron understands.
He mouths it to her. "Operation: Blue Eye."
Kim flashes her teeth at Ron, then looks at Will. "Let's just get this over with."
Will brings Kim to the kitchen's backroom fast. On his way, he attempts to convince a suspicious but ultimately apathetic dishwasher that he's just showing Kim some "training videos."
Klink!
Handcuffs snap around Kim's wrists, binding her to a steel folding chair. At this point in her sordid history with Will Du, she hardly bats an eye at such treatment. Though she does shed a tear—for different reasons—for a certain Mystical Monkey Magic enters her veins. The power swells within her, and Kim's vision flickers rapidly, changing over from her sights on Will to Ron's view of the main floor to the Bermuda Triangle. As this happens, her eyes change from green to blue.
Shortly after the Lowardian Invasion, Ron discovered that Kim was one of the many secrets to his Mystical Monkey Magic, and that she can be used as a conduit for his powers. Together, their connection is unstoppable.
Will takes a seat across from Kim in the broom closet-sized room. His chair barely fits between storage racks.
"I have so many questions," Will sighs, eyes widening as he tries to figure out where to even start. "Why are you here on an unsanctioned mission? And why was Stoppable so confused at my presence? Have you not told him yet?"
"No," she replies. "He's stressed out, Will. The last thing he needs to know is—"
"Reality?" he snips. "I watched you fly in, and it was embarrassing to say the least. Whatever it is you're trying with him, Possible, it's not working."
"Mhm," she slips through gritted teeth. Meanwhile, her mind reaches towards Ron. She imagines her thoughts and word choice very consciously.
"Ron, you need to—"
A waiter wrinkles his nose with disgust at all the dust gathered on Ron's tux, stiffly handing him a glass of ice water. "Would you like anything to start, sir?"
Ron gulps down half the glass in an instant, his foot anxiously beating against the floor. "Uh! Uh! How about, um, the filet mignon?"
The waiter arches an eyebrow and slips away.
Ron exhales sharply, panicking, just as Kim's inner-voice comes to him.
"Ron, you need to—"
He interrupts her, squealing under his breath. "Kim! I just ordered an expensive app! I don't know, the waiter was suspicious, Kim! And uh, I forgot my wallet! Can we put this on the mission budget so we don't get kicked out?"
A deep inner-sigh from Kim, one that Ron's positive Kim doesn't realize he can sense with his powers. A pang of guilt hits Ron hard, his already meek posture crumbling away even more.
"Ron," Kim says, her inner-voice caked with fatigue.
"Yeah?" Ron gulps.
"First off: You don't need to talk out loud. Remember? Mind link. Two, I need you to go invisible and get into that room. Phase through the curtain."
"I'm sorry—" Ron catches himself, switching to an internal monologue. "This is really new to me."
"Don't be sorry," she's fast to say. "I'm not mad at you, I'm just under a lot of pressure here."
"With who? Will? Why is he even here?" Ron asks.
Kim silently groans again, and Ron wilts. Another pang of guilt. These accidental and inadvertent mind readings are invasive, but Ron has no idea how to shut it off.
"Let's just focus on the mission for now, okay?" Kim requests.
Ron winces. "So what do you need me to do? Air duct, right?"
"Too dangerous," Kim tells him. "There are traps in the ducts above Big Daddy's office. Please. Just do as I ask, Ron. Go invisible, phase through the curtain."
Ron blinks rapidly, gulping dramatically. "Kim, I don't know if I can phase through walls. That's why I'm suggesting an alternative plan—"
"You can phase through, I know you can," she urges.
He pushes himself off of the table and looks around in a panic, a lurching feeling in his stomach. He sees the world around him through a panicked, claustrophobic lens. More and more people strut by him, making him feel small. His eyes burrow into the curtain he needs to escape through. He tries so hard to see through it and find the Global Justice agents within, but nothing comes to him.
"It's like anything else, Ron. You need to want it," Kim says.
He imagines his body hollowing out, and becoming transparent. He imagines the plaster walls passing through his mortal form.
He imagines losing his concentration, his flesh fusing with the wall, killing him.
He imagines himself walking into the wall like a doofus, somehow setting off alarms everywhere. He subsequently gets shot to death.
He cringes, face beading with sweat.
"I want it, KP, but I'm not seeing it," Ron says.
"You need to want to do the mission, Ron. Think about saving the world."
"From what? I don't even know why we're doing this, except you seem to want the payout?"
"...Can we please not do this right now?"
Ron paces in furious circles. "I don't know! Seems like me knowing what's going on is the key to getting me into that room!"
"Ron, I—"
"I can't do this with you right now, I'm going through the duct!"
"No—"
He sethers the connection and storms off.
Back in the backroom, Kim's eyes flicker from sapphire to emerald. Immediately, Will swoops in, an unfinished reprimand on his lips. He draws so close to Kim that she can smell his breath.
He grins like a shark. "I thought those were contacts you had on, but no. Your eyes just changed color, didn't they?"
Kim winces.
"So you and him are connected, eh?" Will asks.
"What?" Kim sputters feebly. "I—"
"Be careful the Director doesn't find out, else you could be held completely liable for the mayhem your idiotic, blundering boyfriend wreaks."
Will tilts his head to the side with sympathy, sympathy that's quickly overcome by aggravation. He taps his wristwatch and it lights up, projecting images into the air. Will clicks through them quickly, showcasing sheer destruction. He shows her buildings ravaged and irreversibly broken, reduced to dilapidation. She recognizes the locations all too well; they're all from her most recent missions.
"Falsetto Jones's lair. An ancient monkey temple in Kyoto. Dodger Stadium. Need I go on? Time and time again, that buffoon of yours destroys everything. This goes far beyond what Global Justice Sanitation can cover, and yet the Director has covered it all up every time… because she still sees promise in the boy. If it were to come out that you two are linked—and what is it, Possible? Can you control him?"
"No!" she shouts crossly. "Please don't do this to me."
Will sighs theatrically. "I'm trying to help you. So please, be honest with me. Can you control him?"
Kim grinds her teeth together. "No… but I can see through his eyes and um—we can telecommunicate."
Will bows his head, thinking. "Why'd your eyes go back to their normal color?"
"He cut me off," Kim stutters, an intense grief cutting through her heart, prompting tears that she resists. "He's on his own right now."
Will groans, stretches his arms against the shelves, and rolls his shoulders back.
Kim continues, "And if you continue to hold me here, you'll be liable too… if Ron destroys the Triangle."
Will sucks in a deep breath, sizing Kim up. Reluctantly, he nods at her. Reaches around and undoes the handcuffs binding her. He pulls back, reaches into his hip holster, and offers her a revolver.
She squirms in her seat at the sight of it. Will rolls his eyes and tosses it to her. Her hands clap it to her waist, and her eyes go wide.
Will snorts. "You realize where we are, right?"
Kim grimaces and stuffs the gun away.
"Come on," Will grunts. "I know about the deal. I'll offload the details on the way to intercept."
Ron makes his way down the ventilation duct on his hands and knees, pattering along. He mutters incessantly under his breath in a classically dumb idiot voice. "Why don't you just phase through the walls, Ron? Why don't you just become Superman, Ron?"
But all too soon, the sounds from the secret meeting waft through the vent and into his ears.
Jack Hench has a powerful voice. Crisp and clean, professional and chipper, hypnotic with confidence. It paints a picture immediately within Ron's mind. Bronze skin from the spray-on tan, shining teeth, and a black crew cut with a distinguished white stripe running down the center. Soon, the mental image gives way as Ron's eyes burrow through the wall, the images he previously attempted to voyeur materializing before him.
Kim was right. It is possible. All Ron needs to do is phase through the duct and drop to the floor…
"Now, I appreciate all the work Big Daddy has put into arranging this little meet-up, but we have hit a snag," Hench says.
"Oh no," Big Daddy groans, his voice deep and sophisticated. Reserved but in control. He's a very large man wider than a boulder with only a few sprigs of hair left on his scalp. In the past year, he's grown a large, bushy, chestnut brown beard. Generally found cross-legged on his beanbag chair, he stoops over himself. "Don't do this, Jack."
Betty furrows her brow. "What's he referring to, Big Daddy?"
Big Daddy winces, unable to say.
Hench steps forward. "A few nights ago, there was an attempted robbery at one of my laboratories. Scorch marks were found on the walls."
Agents Drakken and Shego remain remarkably cool-faced.
Betty casts a sidelong glance at the duo. "Scorch marks could be anything."
Hench smiles knowingly. Reaches towards the terrible device that's been besides him the whole time, the one Ron hadn't noticed until now. Hench holds it in the air.
"The thief was after this."
The Attitudinator. Ron claps a hand over his mouth. It's a device capable of reversing the morality of any one person… to the extreme. From hapless sidekick to diabolical villain and vice versa.
Hench continues. "What I'm proposing is simple. Let me test the Attitudinator on your Agents right now, and we'll find out the truth."
Will pats Kim's wrist, nudging his head towards the majestic red curtain that wraps around the entirety of the main floor. They slip underneath it, the heavy floor-length drapes pressing them against the wall. They sidle along rapidly, with Will taking the lead.
"So what's Hench selling to GJ?" Kim grunts.
"The Attitudinator," Will replies briskly.
Kim raises an eyebrow, stopping herself for a moment. "Is that so… Hench can't use it anymore to transform good guys like us into bad guys?"
Will edges along and stays silent.
Kim frowns, thinking over the implications of what the Attitudinator can do.
"Is it… to turn supervillains into Global Justice agents?"
Will presses his lips together, forcing silence unto himself.
A chill runs up Kim's spine. "What's being traded in exchange? Money?"
Will peels back the curtain for a split second, sneaking a peek at the bouncer blocking the entrance to Big Daddy's office. He's a big guy with a handlebar mustache that goes by the name of Rhino. Will motions for Kim to get closer.
"Information," Will explains. "Some of our IT people told me about it. There was a large, unscheduled data upload, but none of us know what it is."
Kim considers the possibilities, but her mind keeps twisting towards a question.
"How do you know all this?" she asks.
He looks back at her. Sighs.
"We'll talk later."
"If the Attitudinator turns the two of you into villains," Hench explains. "Then I'll change you back. No harm, no foul. But if it turns you into two refined Global Justice agents… then perhaps we'll leave you like that. How's that sound to you, Betty?"
Betty casts a sidelong glance at Drakken, her single eye giving him the once over.
Drakken holds his smug expression for a moment, then gives into a fit of quiet cackling. "You really think that it's so simple?"
Hench furrows his brow. "Is that a confession?"
Drakken laughs at the notion and continues, "You're defining this amoral exchange as something unequivocally good. Perhaps you tell yourselves that you're the heroes of this story so that you may sleep better at night. But I'd argue stealing the Attitudinator before it ends up in the wrong hands is an act for the greater good. Do you want to chance being wrong, Jack?"
Shego leans into Drakken's ear. "Doctor D…"
Mouth agape, Hench regains his composure and tightens his grip on the Attitudinator.
"It will work," he assures himself out loud.
Meanwhile, Betty looks from side-to-side. "Uh, am I missing something?" She points at Drakken. "Because I'm pretty sure he just confessed."
Shego lights her fists up, the green glow making lanterns of her fists. "Here, we call it grandstanding."
"Shego!" Drakken whines. "I thought I was onto something good there!"
Meanwhile, Ron jolts up above in the air duct. He plows ahead on his hands and knees—and feels the distinct sensation of his splayed open hand sinking into a pressure plate.
Ron blinks. "Oh no—"
Lasers flick on, bright, red lasers that arrange themselves in a matrix. They blast from one end of the duct to the other, crisscrossing into a web. Ron tries to somersault away, but finds quickly that he has no wiggle room. Paralyzed in fear, he winces as a laser passes before his eyes—
Something sparks within him, and his Mystical Monkey Magic flares, casting a protective ward that hugs the curve of his body. The ward acts as a mirror, bouncing the lasers off at 90° angles. The lasers carve a deadly path through the duct, cutting clean through the metal. Ron yelps and tries to scramble away, only bouncing more lasers into the duct, and—
CRASH!
—the duct completely falls out, bouncing Ron around. His head hits the ceiling and he's out like a light, his ward fading… just as a red laser pierces the duct and trails up the ornate red curtain. The fabric smokes, sparks, then sets aflame.
Just outside, Will Du finds the perfect moment to slip past Rhino. He motions for Kim to follow him, just as smoke billows in from up above. Kim notices it first.
"Oh no," she mutters, dashing past Will. "That's our cue!"
"What?" He trails after her.
Back in the meeting room, Ron and the entire air duct crash into the floor. Everyone freezes at the sudden distraction, except Drakken who seizes the moment. He pulls a stun gun from his tux, and calmly fires two bolts at Big Daddy and Jack Hench. The two men promptly fold like a house of cards… and Kim enters the scene with Will in tow.
Shego glances over her shoulder. "Princess?!" she gasps.
Drakken's eyes widen. He follows Shego's gaze and—
"Kim Possible?!"
Kim's mind goes back to the war torn lands under a green sky.
She resumes where she left off; Shego's glow had just incinerated her. Now dead, Kim's floating phantasm falls to their knees. Arms shaking, Kim gets back up to her feet.
Doctor Drakken and Shego leer at her.
Drakken smiles wickedly, flashing all his teeth at her. He tents his talons, twiddling them with excitement.
Shego shrieks with laughter, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Kim wilts under the evil duo's gaze, feeling awfully small and childish. Her deceased, astral form burns with a biting cold. Terrible, deadly thoughts swarm her brain, crawling through her innards like maggots. Thoughts of death, destruction, and—
She falls from the sky again. The roof of the Bermuda Triangle closes in, rushing up to meet her face. She closes her eyes. Anticipates the crunching of her bones, the splattering of meaty flesh, and the blood expanding into a dark, crimson pool. She bends over her own blood, catches her reflections, and sees her pale, sweaty corpse-like face staring back at her…
…and she smiles.
The warped fantasy collapses in on itself, fading away into a kernel of an idea that drifts into Kim's subconscious. She awakens right into the action.
Shego dives at Kim, her talons curled from combat, her glow burning at the air. Kim gulps and rolls onto her back. She kicks Shego in the stomach as she passes over, launching her high into the air. Shego hits the ground hard but gets back up on her feet fast.
Meanwhile, the fire spreads. Meanwhile, Drakken grabs Doctor Director by the shoulders, jabbing his stun gun into the side of her head. The light changes from green to red, and the Bad Doctor grins maliciously at Will Du. Will pulls a gun on Drakken, but there's not much more he can do.
And the gun is in Kim's hand.
Shego rushes Kim, going for a sideswipe to the head. Kim ducks instinctually, and raises her fists, ready to brawl. But her hesitation cleaves through her again. She adjusts her stance and uses her wrists to ward off the next flurry of blows. Flesh strikes flesh, wrist meets wrist. Kim moves nimbly and carefully, avoiding Shego's glow.
Shego smirks proudly at Kim. Picks up on the intensity. Her limbs move faster, and her power glows brighter, giving Kim less and less room to work with. But contrary to intuition, Kim feels a high adrenaline thrill. Something about having to fight Shego again is grounding. Despite the inherent tragedy of it, Kim feels at ease.
Fighting Shego is something Kim understands about the two of them, it's what lies beyond the fighting that terrifies her the most. She'd like to pretend there is nothing beyond this, but she can't deny what she's seeing:
This is play. A spar. Shego isn't trying to hurt Kim, and because of that, Kim can't try to hurt Shego.
"Why are you doing this?" Kim slips between gritted teeth.
Shego growls, swings her arms outward, then snaps them inward in a scissor-strike at Kim's neck.
Kim grabs Shego by the wrists, just managing to keep the glow from scorching her flesh. Shego leers at her, ramping up her power more and more. Kim resists, arms shaking, muscles threatening to snap. Shego tugs on Kim, pulling her closer.
Suddenly, Shego's mask of rage softens. She tilts her head to the side with a soft sympathy.
"Kim," she says. "Don't you realize who you're working for?"
Kim bites her lip. She wants to be confident. She wants to cooly look Shego in the eye with a smirk on her face, a proud glint in her eye. Yes. I do. I work for the good guys, and you don't.
But no, it's not the first time such traitorous notions have entered her mind. She's recovered weapons from compounds with more questions than answers. Then there's Will Du, openly sharing institutional secrets with her, an intern.
Ha. An intern. More like fodder.
Kim knows her place in all of this, and so does Shego.
Shego's green pupils dance about, reading the micro-expressions on Kim's face.
"I'm going to flip you," Shego whispers. "That dress has pockets, right?"
Kim nods.
Shego continues, "I swiped the disc off Betty. Doctor D wants it bad, but I want you to have it."
"But—" Kim doesn't get a chance to finish that sentence. Shego grapples Kim by the calf and upper body, twisting her around like she's a ragdoll. It happens so fast Kim hardly notices it all, but she does feel the weight of the disc slide into her dress pocket.
Kim hits the ground at a roll, landing beside Will.
"Shego!" Drakken calls out. "Get the Attitudinator!"
Instantly, Drakken pistol-whips Betty in the back of the head, and the tall woman falls like a tree in the forest, crashing against the floor. Will Du tries to take his best shot, but Shego fires a plasma blast that knocks the gun clean out of his hands…
…and the gun is in Kim's hand.
Shego vaults across the room, scoops up the Attitudinator, flashes an unreadable glance at Kim, and then shoots out a hole in the ceiling.
Immediately, a rope ladder descends from up above. Shego leaps high, landing on one of the upper-rungs. Drakken grabs onto one of the lower ones, wedging his heel against the bottom rung. He glares pointedly at Kim. Flashes his teeth, grinning maliciously from ear-to-ear.
"Pull us up!" Shego calls out to their pilot, and the ladder lifts into the air.
And the gun is in Kim's hand.
She stares at Drakken wordlessly, at a complete loss as to what to do. Normally, she'd sprint forward and grapple onto Drakken's foot just before it slips out of reach. She'd chase them up into the sky and take them out, but she can't.
They were supposed to be good guys.
Kim wipes the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, and makes her decision.
"You think you're all that, Kim Possible!" Drakken shouts, halfway to the ceiling. "But you're not—"
Kim takes the shot.
The gun recoils against her palm, forcing her arm back, hurting her elbow. Her heart pounds and her chest gets hot and twisted.
Drakken's head smashes backwards and he screams. Just before he slips away from view, he grabs his face, palm covering his eye.
Kim drops the gun to the floor, just as Will Du places a hand on her shoulder. She looks to him for guidance, but his eyes aren't on her. She follows his gaze and sees that the curtain is completely on fire. Smoke billows through the room.
"We gotta go," Will coughs. "I got the Director, you get Stoppable."
Kim nods and runs to Ron's prone form. She pats him on the cheek rapidly.
"Ron. Ron! Snap out of it."
Nothing but strangled chirpings from his pocket. Kim frowns, dips her hand into Ron's pocket, and feels Rufus's smooth flesh. She winces, briefly pulling Rufus out. He's pale beyond belief, his little body shaking from head to toe, his head swaying dizzily from side to side.
"I'm going to get you two out of here, don't worry," she assures the naked mole rat.
Wordlessly, Rufus sinks back into the pocket, coughing and wheezing in his high voice.
Kim grabs Ron and slings him over her shoulder. Coughs a few times. Already, the smoke is getting to her. But she can't… she can't stop… she's Kim Possible, she can do anything.
Will charges ahead, Doctor Director slung over his back. Kim glances back at Big Daddy and Jack Hench.
"What about them?" she squeaks.
"We can't," Will bows low and ducks through the curtain. "This is the best we can do, Possible, I need you to remember that."
Kim follows after him and flames lick against her skin. She makes it out unscathed, but freezes the second they're out on the main floor. Everything burns. Fire is everywhere. So much fire that it's impossible to even see the exit. She tries to remember the layout of everything—it's difficult now that all the patrons and staff have made it out safely. It gives her less for her mind to work with.
"Come on!" Will calls out. "This way!"
She charges after him, just as her vision blurs. Darkness flickers over the vision like a camera lens. Her running slows and she lurches forward, giving into another fit of coughing when suddenly, a bright blue Mystical Monkey Mask materializes over her mouth, taking on the form of a gas mask.
Kim tears up and rips the mask off herself, shoving it against Ron's face. She sprints ahead, only for a rafter to suddenly crash between her and Will. Vicious flames rise up, flickering rapidly. She can barely see Will through the smog.
"Possible!" he calls out. "Oh no, uh, Kim can you… can you grapple your way out?"
Kim looks up dimly. Falls to her knees, Ron's body slipping off hers. She hits the floor.
"Go!" she calls out with the last of her strength. Her face sinks against the carpet, and she repeats it weakly. "Go."
Blackness flickers over her vision again, this time for several seconds. When she awakens, her body is curled up besides Ron's, her hands in his lifeless ones. Hands that can't hold back.
"I'm sorry," she whimpers, giving up on the handhold. She reaches for Ron's cheek. "I'm sorry I can't save you."
Blackness again. This time, her eyes don't open up again. At least not right away. Kim sinks into the floor as the smoke fills her lungs. Her strength saps away, her body lifeless as Ron's.
She hears a voice after precious seconds pass them by. It sounds like it's from miles away.
"Kim!" It's Ron. "Kim! Wake up, no no no no, stay with me, please, I—the gas mask was meant for you, not me. Please, I—Kim."
Sobbing. He sobs into her chest, her limp body leaning up against his.
And then… blue light pierces through the darkness. It consumes everything and rushes Kim like the rip tide. It grabs her body, drags her against the floor, and she snaps awake. Fire is everywhere, completely shrouding her body. She can't see at first, but then the blue light cuts through the flame destroying it.
Quickly, she finds that there's blue light hugging the curve of her body, just like it did for Ron before her.
She looks up and sees Ron. He floats in the air, his eyes glowing blue, her arms spread wide. She reaches up towards him, desperate to take him by the hand, but then another rafter falls from above.
It crushes her into the floor.
There's a green glow waiting for Kim in the darkness.
It's miles away at first, but Kim isn't afraid. Kim takes the journey. She plods along through the darkness. Miles pass her by and the green glow doesn't get any bigger, but that doesn't stop her. She marches on. Miles more pass by, and finally, the green glow grows. She feels its warmth on her skin, even from afar.
She draws closer. Closer.
When she finally arrives, she finds that the glow is no bigger than a heart. It beats and throbs. Wincing, Kim reaches out for it… and a hand takes hers.
Kim looks up and meets eyes with Shego. Kim gulps and goes back to that question Shego posed to her earlier, the question that will change the entire course of her life.
"I thought I was one of the good guys," Kim whimpers.
Shego smiles warmly. "You are, Kim. You are."
Kim wakes up with a start. Tubes pull against her body, and she bounces back into the hospital bed. Her head falls against the pillow and she looks up at the dreary sky, almost waiting for it to flash green. But no, this is real.
"Kim?" Ron eagerly takes her by the arm, jerking her body back upward.
His eyes aren't brown anymore, they're blue.
"What?" Ron frowns.
Bugs and other creepy-crawlies buzz loudly around them. They're just outside the smoldering remains of the Bermuda Triangle, her hospital bed is besides a nearby swamp. In the distance, she can sees Will Du speaking with local authorities. Lights flash in the air.
Suddenly it dawns on Kim; she's alive.
She rushes Ron, grabbing him with the most strength her nearly-dead body can muster. She feels his tense muscles relax, and it fills her stomach with dread…
…because despite all the good they do for each other, Kim knows what she has to do now.
She pulls away and looks at Ron. "What did you do?"
"I don't know," Ron says weakly. "Earlier, this like—ward? came to me. I don't know what to call it yet, Mystical Monkey… ooh! Mitigation! Mystical Monkey Mitigation, yeah. But it protected me from those traps you warned me about… so I figured I'd just try casting it on every living organism in the Triangle."
"It worked?" she asks, sheer pride on her face. "Ron, that's incredible."
"I know!" Ron cheers, but only for a moment. His bright expression falters fast. "But um… Rufus should be okay. I don't think we should bring him on missions anymore."
The sheer guilt on his face tells her a different story. She saw how sick Rufus was under the smog. There's going to be consequences because of that.
Then she remembers something else that will have consequences: She shot Drakken in the eye. He could be dead for all she knows. And then there's the disc in her pocket, a disc that contains information that will likely change Kim's life forever.
She gives Ron a significant look, and he notices it. His lip trembles for a moment, but he steels himself up.
"Kim, we don't have to talk about all this right away," he laughs weakly. "I mean, you pretty much just died and came back to life."
Kim stays silent. While she agrees, the secrets burn in her chest… and then she sees Will Du approaching. She pats Ron on the back of the neck, and he turns around.
"Oh, uh, how do you do, Will Du?" Ron chuckles.
Will sends a scathing look Ron's way. "We almost died because of you, you idiot."
Ron frowns. Thinks about it for a second, then jabs an inspired index finger into the air. "But I saved everyone!"
Will smirks. "Not me though. I made it out without your Mystical Monkey Mayhem. Unlike you two, I'm not an amateur."
"Aw!" Ron whines. "I thought we were past that, man."
Will shakes his head and makes pointed eye contact with Kim. "Doctor Director is willing to forgive Agent Stoppable for this blunder because well, it was impressive what you pulled off. But… I don't know, how do you want to do this, Possible? Should I tell him or should you?"
Kim gulps. She hadn't thought of that, her mind was more so wondering if she should share the disc with Will, because if she's right and he's part of an underground intelligence network… they could work together.
"Tell me what?" Ron frowns.
"I'll do it," Kim says. "I promise. Can you just give us a minute?"
Will nods and turns away… only to turn back. He pulls an envelope out from his utility belt and passes it over to Ron. "Hank Perkins from the Bermuda Triangle requested this be handed over to you… I understand you were working with him—" He stops and sends a pointed glance Ron's way. "—I elect not to inform the Director about that. Possible. Stoppable." He bows his head and takes his leave.
Ron frowns and opens the letter. "You… I can't even with you… scribble scribble oh wow he tore a hole right here scribble scribble. Hank. Huh."
Kim wishes she could laugh, but she can't, and Ron's amused expression falls.
He slowly turns towards Kim with the same kind of anxiety he showed just before Graduation. "So uh… what's the sitch?"
Doctor Drakken still breathes.
He lays in a chair in his evil lair. Boxes are scattered everywhere. The place is packed up to go. He still hasn't explained why that is the case to Shego. She'd like to know if she needs to start looking for new gigs.
His left eye is covered with bandages. Henchmen surround him, nursing him, protecting him. Loyal henchmen, better than even what Hench Co. offers.
Shego approaches Drakken tentatively.
Drakken speaks before her. "Give me an overview, Shego."
Shego sighs. "Things could've gone better. We basically burnt a bridge with everybody. GJ will chase us, and the Bermuda Triangle will put a bounty on us. All of our villain friends… Frugal Lucre, Motor Ed, Dementor—"
"I'm not friends with Dementor!" Drakken whines.
Shego continues without interruption. "—they're gonna come for us, Doc. So I hope you have a plan."
"I do," Drakken coos. "Tell me about the assets."
Shego bows her head. "We got the Attitudinator… and I did as you asked. I gave Princess the disc."
Suddenly, Drakken bursts into awful, nefarious laughter. His cackles echo off the chamber walls, sending chills down her spine. Something horribly wrong has happened.
"Shego," Drakken says calmly. "I don't think you understand… this is the best possible outcome. All of it."
Kim swallows. Speaks slowly and deliberately. The occasional echo of a suppressed bone-wracking sob seeps into her voice.
"Ron, I'm under investigation."
It takes Ron a moment."What?"
"For misconduct," she says.
"Mis… conduct? You?"
Kim nods slowly. "The truth is Ron… I've been pretending this whole time that you're the one in trouble with Global Justice, but really, it's me."
Ron takes an unusually long time to respond to what she's saying. It's rare to see him be so present.
She wishes he didn't understand. She wishes she didn't have to hurt him so bad.
"Global Justice doesn't care about the damage you've caused, Ron," Kim explains. "They aren't blaming you, they're blaming me. They're saying I'm teaching you wrong, that I'm teaching you to destroy. That's why Will Du was here. He's my Handler, and he's trying to save us. But I think it's too late, Ron."
"That's…" Ron double takes. "That's insane. You're Kim Possible, you can do anything! Why would… why would anyone blame you?"
Suddenly, Kim can't help it anymore. It hurts too bad, and she bursts into tears.
Ron continues, "It's me! It's all me, Kim, I'll even tell them that, okay? You don't have to take the heat for me!"
Kim falls into Ron's arms, head buried against his chest, while she sobs. It's her first time crying in front of Ron, like really crying. She wails uncontrollably like a child, her body shaking from head-to-toe. It's unlike anything she's ever felt before.
"Kim?" Ron chokes.
Kim slowly lifts her head, her voice small and frail. "I'm so fucking sorry, Ron. I failed you."
Ron blinks, picking up on it being the first time he's ever heard Kim swear.
"Kim…" Ron starts to cry himself. He sniffs loudly. "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is, Ron." She gives into another wave of sobbing. "I don't have my head in the game anymore! I don't even know if I want to be doing missions!"
Ron exhales like he just got punched in the gut. "...What?"
"I want out, Ron." She rubs a sleeve against her eye. "But I can't. Because if I go, I'm liable for everything you do, and if I'm not there to help you with your powers…"
Ron rears back, furrowing his brow, suddenly cross. "Kim, you're talking down to me like I'm a child. I know what I'm doing!"
Kim flinches at his anger. "That's not what I mean. I'm saying that if I didn't give you my gas mask down there, I don't think the ward would've worked."
Ron raises an eyebrow. "I don't… what?"
Kim presses her lips together. "I'm saying that your superpower is me. It's our love."
Ron blinks rapidly, trying to process the information, but something in his brain clicks off. Somewhere in his mind, there's a scene that plays out during the Lowardian Invasion. He can't remember it, can't recall it even after immediately dreaming it, but he knows. He knows all too well.
"No… I mean, I don't know. I don't want it to be that though…"
He looks away, wipes the tears from his paunchy face. "Kim, when you told me you were scared too, it really freaked me out… because honestly, I don't know what you're scared of."
Kim sniffs and reaches deep within herself. She grapples onto her anger, dragging it back. She needs this to work. She needs him to hate her.
So she says the most honest thing she's ever said to him.
"I don't understand how you can grow up together with someone like we did, and still have no idea who they even are."
"What?" Ron gasps under his breath. It's like she just slapped him in the face. "You know—" Sniff. Sniff. "—you act like you know everything I'm going through! Well, you don't!"
Kim's heart just about breaks in two.
"What…" she pants. "What do you mean I don't know? You're… you're scared of your powers, right? And you're worried about going to college without me."
Ron blinks back tears. Turns a cheek.
"You won't tell me?" she chokes.
"It hurts too bad, Kim."
Her face softens with understanding. It strikes her then that maybe this doesn't have to go how she thought. At least, there's some kind of kinship connecting them, some inherent flaw they both share…
It means she doesn't have to be alone anymore.
"Ron, I understand…" she says quietly.
Ron looks up cautiously.
"I understand that hurt, Ron," Kim says, sniffling all the way through. "I understand how…" All too soon, her hope sinks away as the truth once again reveals itself. She was wrong. She can't save Ron. "I… oh shit, I can't do this…"
Ron's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Kim closes her eyes, collects herself, and opens them. "I love you more than anything. But—"
"Kim," Ron whimpers, shaking hands reaching out for her cheeks. But he's too afraid to touch her. "Kim, don't do this. I can… I can change. I'll try to… I'll do anything for you. Do you understand that?"
Kim clamps her jaw tight. She has to look away. "If I want to protect you from them, then I need to take your powers away. And if your power is really our power, then…"
She gives into a fit of tears. Childish whimpering.
"Then… what, Kim?" Ron asks.
"Then…" Kim sniffles. "Then we need to not love each other anymore, right? Please tell me it's the only thing that makes sense, because it's all I got, Ron…"
Ron's face screws up in tears. "Please… please don't do this—"
Kim remembers the war torn lands under green skies, and something goes off in her brain. This impulse to stay in control vanishes, replaced by a need to let her imagination wander, to let it consume her. When she looks at Ron, though it may be nighttime, she sees dark green skies. It relaxes her.
She looks Ron dead in the eye and summons all her strength.
"Ron, we're breaking up."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I used to write here under the name of MagicFlyingSpud. My strong personality and my inherent transness rubbed a lot of people in the community the wrong way, so I decided to cut my losses and leave, taking all my stories with me. Since then, I've done a lot of reflecting, and I've decided I've come too far in life to worry about trolls and bad faith actors. I have returned here to publish just one story, which I jokingly refer to as One Last Job. This is a culmination of everything I've been trying to do with KP for the past few years, and it's a story I have to tell. I hope you enjoy it.