"Ron...I can't explain it! I just...lost control and I had to get out of there..."
Several minutes had passed since Kim had bolted wildly from the McDougall estate - something akin to a panic attack had seized upon her and driven her into a terrified frenzy. After catching up, Ron had given her a bottle of water from his pack, which seemed to help a great deal, as she was now able to stand on her own two feet without any nausea or vertigo assailing her senses.
Ron eyed her up and down, warily. "Yeah, KP, I WONDERED what was up! You were just sitting there all peachy-keen and then you looked like you'd seen a gho-...naw, you must've seen something WAY worse than a ghost...for a second, I thought you were gonna heave all over me, just like that time at the carnival!"
"Well, I sure came CLOSE" she said, her voice recovering its strength and her face regaining its color. "And as for seeing a ghost, well...a ghost might've proved less scary than Silas' eyes."
"Maybe you were just really...thirsty" suggested Ron. "I mean, it WAS kinda' hot in there, what with that fireplace roaring like a blast furnace and all. And for Silas being such an, I quote, 'generous man', he didn't even offer us cold drinks, let alone snacks..."
Kim sighed. "No, Ron, it was something WAY worse than that. TRUST ME."
He held her steady as she took a few wobbling steps forward, finally finding her footing. She took another sip of water from a bottle labelled 'Sapphire Springs' that tasted like it had come from someone's garden hose. "As long as it's wet..." she thought. She ran her hands through her thick red hair and vigorously rubbed her eyes. She'd finally started to feel alive again.
"Thanks, Ron" she said, gratefully. "I think I'm fine, now...whew!"
She ambled out of the cool shade and into the warm sunshine, stretching her arms and heaving a great sigh of relief. She turned to face Ron and grinned warmly.
"Just like that time at the carnival, huh?" laughed Kim. "I always felt bad about ruining your shirt...and your pants...AND your shoes...AND the backseat of your Mom's car..."
"Naw, it's cool!" said Ron, laughing. From what I remember from way back in fifth grade, I loved jumping in mud puddles, so I probably needed new clothes, anyway. Speaking of new clothes...is that what you'll be scoring with your fat stack of moolah?"
"Moolah?" asked Kim. "Oh my God, I forgot all about that..."
"That's riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" shouted Ron, pulling the check from his pocket. "Weeeee're RICH!"
He kissed his check and held it up high over his head, smiling crazily. Suddenly, his face fell.
"Huh...well THAT'S weird" he said.
"What's weird?" asked Kim.
"I think that Silas guy made a boo-boo when he signed this thing...it says it's only for, like, one cent..."
"No, no, Ron, you're-you're holding it upside-down..."
"Oh...thanks! There...MUCH better..."
"KP, what's an industrialist?" asked Ron as he fed the last piece of hard candy from Silas' desk to Rufus. They were walking down the tree-lined street just outside of Silas' estate that would lead them directly back to Middleton proper.
"Ron, hold on a sec" said Kim as she dialed Wade on the Kimmunicator; she had questions - MANY questions. Some of her unease had returned, and she was seriously considering ripping up her check and completely forgoing the new assignment altogether. She'd likely have to get Ron to tear up his check as well - after battling him to the death over it, of course. A moment later, Wade's face appeared on the screen, looking - for whatever reason - extremely perturbed.
"Hey, Wade!" said Kim. "Hey, I was just wondering if you knew anything about-"
"Kim, where have you BEEN?" asked Wade, frantically. "I've been trying to reach you all day, but I think that your signal was blocked!"
"WHAT?" said Kim and Ron in stunned surprise.
"And another thing" said Wade, "your website was also down for some reason - down for several HOURS, in fact. It's back up and running now, but it's the weirdest thing..."
"Oh, THAT is just...bizarre and UNUSUAL" said Ron, stroking his chin with a frowning, pensive expression as though he were Sherlock Holmes.
Kim's thoughts started to wax gloomy once again. "I don't like this at all" she thought to herself, darkly. "This is just getting weirder and weirder by the second..."
"So yeah, Kim, NO ONE was able to contact you at all, today. Not even me!" said Wade.
"...except for...Klaus..." said Kim in a serious, far-away tone.
"Huh? Who?" asked Wade.
"Oh, n-nothing" replied Kim, shaking her head. "Listen, Wade, I need you to tell me EVERYTHING you know about Silas McDougall...as SOON as possible..."
"Silas McDougall? You mean the industrialist?" asked Wade.
"What...IS...an industrialist?" asked Ron frantically, to no one in particular. Rufus, who was perched on Ron's shoulder, was eyeing the McDougall estate behind them with narrow, unfriendly eyes. He hissed sharply, loud enough to startle Ron out of his monologue.
"Whoooaa, Rufus!" said Ron in surprise. "Never heard you make THAT sound before!" Ron spun around and glanced back towards the mansion's grounds, wondering what exactly had gotten the mole rat so spun up and agitated.
"What do you know about the guy?" asked Kim to Wade, who was busily typing away, his face awash in electric light from his computer monitor.
"It looks like this guy's got his hands in a lot of things, Kim" answered Wade. "He owns a BIG spread of businesses, scattered among mining, petroleum, logging, space exploration, even hospitality and dining..."
"Did you hear that, Ron?" asked Kim. "This guy might even own Bueno Nacho..."
Ron's face darkened as Rufus continued to glare antagonistically at the grand mansion behind them.
"Why do you ask?" asked Wade.
"Because Ron and I just took on a job - not a case, a job - where we'll be helping guard one of Silas' pricy little collectables on loan to the museum-"
"Wait a minute" interrupted Wade. "It wouldn't be the Neptune diamond, would it?"
"How did you know?"
Wade reached under his desk, pulled out a large flier and held it up to the screen. The main headline read as thus:
THE MIDDLETON MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
PROUDLY PRESENTS FOR EXHIBITION
THE NEPTUNE DIAMOND
GENEROUSLY ON LOAN FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF
SILAS MCDOUGALL
"Heck, I was thinking of seeing it myself" continued Wade as he rolled the flier back up. "And I don't usually leave home for anything less than a real humdinger!"
Kim thought hard. She had certainly HEARD of Silas McDougall before, though only in passing. She had never really pondered too deeply about the guy, knowing only that he was incredibly rich and that he lived on the outskirts of her hometown in an enormous compound.
"Do you know of anything...say...UNUSUAL about the guy?" asked Kim. "As in anything...BAD?"
"Not really...at least not off the top of my head" said Wade as he slurped soda through a striped silly straw. "Why?"
"Sorry, Wade, but it looks like KP's 'women's intuition' got kicked into overdrive today" laughed Ron, squeezing his face into Wade's view via the Kimmunicator. Kim gave Ron a dirty glance and looked like she was just itching to smack him upside the head with a blunt object.
"Thanks, Ron" she said in a poisonous tone. Ron threw up his hands as if he was going to ward off a blow, grinning from ear to ear.
Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Wade. "Wade...it's like this...and it's kind of bizarre..."
She then recounted Wade with everything that had happened that day - right up to the sudden, inexplicable sense of dread and feeling of sickness that had washed over her when she was near Klaus and Silas, causing her to flee wildly from the estate in a fright.
Wade listened intently, his expression one of profound concern. At least, at first.
"I thought it was just pre-mission jitters, but it felt like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown" she said. "If I had forced myself to stay a bit longer, I probably would have passed out. I've never had ANYTHING like that happen in my life!"
"Well...I don't know what to tell you, Kim..." said Wade, timidly. He suddenly put on a nervous smile and beamed at her. "Do you think that maybe you were just...you know...dehydrated? I mean, you DID say that you felt much better after Ron gave you some water-"
"You too, huh?" said Kim angrily, glancing back and forth between Wade and Ron with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. "GUYS..." she muttered under her breath as she buried her face in her free hand. "You're ALL the same..."
"But you know what IS strange about all of this?" said Wade, his serious expression of concern returning. "Silas - or what was his name, Klaus? - contacted you DIRECTLY through your device...and usually, it's only ME who can do that, seeing as how I'm the one who built it."
Kim's face lit up with frightened realization. Wade was correct - there were maybe only a couple instances in the past where someone with the technical know-how had hacked into the kimmunicator's frequency and spoken directly to Kim or Ron without going through Wade, first.
Kim's face was grim and stern. Now she was beginning to feel more angry than afraid.
"Kiiiiiimmm..." said Ron, slyly, as he cocked an eyebrow. "You're looking like one of those grumpy statues at the cemetery..."
She turned her head to the left and glared daggers at Ron, her green eyes flashing dangerously as he went all wide-eyed and shuffled a few paces back from her.
"You, uh...look ready to bury me in one, too" he said, meekly. Meanwhile, Rufus was still staring back at the estate with an almost frightening, rabid expression. Something had him spooked right off of the charts.
"Kim...?" asked Wade, as she stared off into space.
"Yeah...Kim...?" repeated Ron.
"I'm sick of being all wishy-washy" she thought as she steeled her resolve and returned to her usual, forthright manner. Enough was enough.
"I think" she said, thickly and with some effort, "I think...I'm gonna' see this through, anyway."
Wade frowned at her through the screen.
"Could be dangerous" he said. "And you're right. Something DOES stink about all of this."
"Yeah, something weird IS going on" said Kim. And that's why I'm sticking with it. And I won't lie...the money IS appealing...but I can't help but feel - call it 'women's intuition' if you want - that there's something REALLY important that needs to be...shall we say... addressed. Something WAY more important than just protecting someone else's jewelry.
Wade nodded solemnly. "Well, I've got your backs no matter what" he said. "But promise me that you'll keep me posted if things start to get weird on your end."
"Of course we will!" said Ron, once again squeezing his face up against Kim's so he could fit into Wade's field of view. "Gonna' have to be on our game, Wade! Who knows what kind of weirdos out there might be interested in old McDonald's- er, I mean, old McDougall's bling!"
Just as Ron had said, someone out there was very interested, indeed.
Somewhere in bustling downtown Middleton, a pair of pale green hands, shaking with fury, held the museum advertisement in a steely death grip before angrily crumpling it and tossing it into the trash. The figure quickly rose from a chair and stalked moodily around the shadowy interior, spouting obscene, furious threats to no one in particular, until finally grabbing hold of a ceramic vase, and with an enraged howl, threw it against the wall, shattering it into a thousand jagged pieces. On the way down a long dark hall, the figure passed in front of a large, full-length mirror; pallid, green-tinged skin, thick jet-black hair and emerald-green eyes were the mysterious figure's standout features.
Only the reflection wasn't that of Shego's.
And for whatever reason, the museum flyer had really set him off, tonight. And he was mad as hell.