Chapter 12 - What have you done to me?
Kim pedalled backwards, trying desperately to put some distance between herself and the girl advancing toward her.
Bonnie strode forward confidently, forcing Kim's back against the wall, cutting off her retreat. She loomed down over her, making her feel oh so small.
"Oh Kiiiim," she cooed, seductively, "I like you Kim... do you like me?"
"What?" She rasped in reply, finding it hard to breathe.
The brunette got in closer, pressing up against her and whispering into her ear, "Come on, try it, it'll be our little secret."
Kim was helpless, unable to do anything as the other girl bore down on her, lust evident in her emerald eyes. Just before their lips connected, she heard a beeping sound, and the eyes shifted.
Where before there had been two hungry, wanting eyes were now flat, emotionless discs glowing bright from within the girl's skull.
With a sharp, robotic action, Kim felt both her arms pinned to her sides, as syntho-Bonnie peered down on her with a grin that stretched her face to breaking point.
"Ooohh Kiiiimm," she called out in a synthesised voice, as her face started melting off her angular, metallic bones.
Kim tried to cry out, but couldn't make herself heard over the continuous beeping sound.
Kim shot straight up, the beeping of the kimmunicator finally jostling her from her nightmare. All thoughts of her dream were tossed aside in an instant as she grabbed the device.
"What's the sitch?" She answered groggily. Through her curtains she could see the first hints of daylight emerging.
"Bad news Kim," Wade greeted her, seemingly unaware of the hour, "I'm getting reports that Shego has busted herself out of jail."
The mention of her arch-nemesis woke her up as effectively as dowsing her with cold water. "What do we know?"
"Not a great deal, I'm still going through aerial footage, but she can't have gotten far. I should have a bearing in the time it'll take to get a ride to you."
"I ever tell you you rock Wade?"
"Only about once a mission. Alright, get geared up, I'll get Ron and a ride. Be careful Kim, Shego will not be looking to go back inside so soon."
"I will, take care," she replied before hanging up the device.
Alone once again, her thoughts went back to her nightmare. Bonnie had been a regular antagonist of her dreams for years now, pretty much since their first meeting. Unsurprising really considering how much the tanned female got under her skin.
The synthodrones were much more recent, they'd been there almost every night since prom. She didn't want to admit it, but maybe the whole ordeal had shook her up more than she had thought. It would go away with time, she figured.
As for Bonnie's behaviour, she didn't want to go near that topic with a 10ft pole. Recent revelations still seemed so unlikely, yet explained so much.
She shook her head, trying to clear it all out. She had a mission to focus on, the rest could wait till later.
The two friends sat across from one another as the boat rocked side-to-side. Wade had tracked the villainess' movements towards a small island in the tropics, and so they were on their way there as fast as their ride could take them.
"There was just no need for it KP, like I just needed another couple of minutes in bed and then BOOM, the kimmunicator starts making all these monkey noises at me! Waking a man up like that is just a line that you do NOT cross!"
"Mm-yeah, evil," Rufus concurred as he fiddled with the back of Ron's kimmunicator with his claws, trying to get access to the main unit.
Normally something like that would at least get a chuckle out of Kim, but it seemed like his words didn't even register. He recognised her as wearing her game face, but there was something different, something harder, more... intense.
She was caught up in memories of their last encounter with Shego, replaying the moment she realised her boyfriend was just another one of her enemy's sick ploys. She still vividly recalled the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, while the villainess stood there, smugly staring down at her.
'It was all a trick, just a way for her to mess with my head...'
"Yo, KP, you doing alright?"
Kim started, then focused on Ron. It really was like she had snapped out of a trance. "Sorry, I was miles away," she admitted.
"No kidding, you were giving off serious PDFC vibes."
"PTSD," she corrected him, before shaking her head, "I'm okay, you all set? Shego isn't going to go quietly."
"I know we can't just let her escape and all, but doesn't this feel sorta pointless? I mean, all she's going to do is break out again!"
Kim sighed. It did feel a little bit futile at times. "They had her for a week-and-a-half this time Ron, at the very least that's something. I'm sure if we just keep on top of her, eventually she'll get the message."
Looking out of the window, they could see the island coming up fast. Kim took this as a sign to get ready, and left Ron, Rufus and the increasingly-disassembled kimmunicator as she headed to the bathroom. The door locked, she opened her travel case to reveal her battle suit.
'Why do I get the feeling I'll need it?'
As soon as they came into port, they thanked the captain and set off in search of the fugitive. Considering the island played host to a fancy beach-side resort and spar, it wasn't difficult to know where to start.
Sure enough, a few questions at the front desk later, and they were stepping out to the pool area ready to do battle.
Shego, meanwhile, was wholly unprepared. Spread out across a sun-lounger on her stomach, she was lost in her own little world of bliss, and didn't even notice the pair approaching.
The villainess was wearing a two-piece bikini, in green of course, that she had left untied at the back, giving the duo a clear sight of the jagged burn marks on her back.
Kim winced 'Is that from the transmission tower?' She supposed it must be. An injury like that would easily have killed another person. Though it hadn't even been two weeks, she could see it was healing nicely, though it would no-doubt leave a nasty scar.
'Or maybe not?' She wondered, as her eyes traced the rest of her pale form, noticing a distinct lack of battle wounds, or any marks at all on her flawless pastel skin.
She shook that last thought away and decided to announce their presence.
"What's wrong Shego, the prison spa not up to your liking?"
The woman's hands, which up till now had been splayed over the edge of the lounger, clenched tightly, crumpling the plastic like an empty soda can. After a beat she let go, and tried, unsuccessfully, to return to her relaxed position.
"Figured I'd get at least a few hours of me time in before you showed up," she grumbled, eyes still closed.
"There'll be plenty of time for that when you're back behind bars," Kim replied firmly.
Shego cast her a glance and chuckled. "I don't think you're beach ready in that space-suit cupcake. Not unless you want your tan stopping at your neck."
"Do you even tan?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she once again glanced over the pale woman.
"Rude," she scowled, and twisted slightly to face them, giving a side-view of her breast. "Eyes up here Stoppable."
Kim turned to see Ron with his jaw on the floor, and his cheeks rapidly changing hue to match his friend's hair.
"Boys, you're all so predictable," Shego laughed as she moved to a sitting up position, clutching the top to her front to preserve some of her modesty.
As she was tying the strings behind her back, Kim got a good look at the woman's stomach where, in spite of her impressive healing factor, there were still the fading remnants of a bruise marring the skin, where she had delivered the decisive kick last time they fought.
She thought of the strength she had put into that kick, bolstered by the battle suit. It was enough to cause an internal injury, yet to Shego it was almost nothing. 'Those things must be as hard as rock!' she thought as she eyed the woman's abdominals.
"You too cupcake, eyes up," She grunted as she got to her feet.
Kim felt her own cheeks burning at the comment, suddenly flustered at her examination of her foe.
If Shego picked up on this shift she didn't show it, instead stretching out to crack her neck. "So we doing this or what? 'Cause I have a hot stone massage booked in an hour, and I intend to make it."
"Hope there's no cancellation fee," the red-head quipped as she dropped into a fighting stance.
Ron and Rufus wisely decided to retreat to a safe distance; they were only there for backup after all.
Shego wasted no time in going on the offensive, chucking a plasma-infused hook at the side of Kim's head. Kim ducked in to grab her upper arm, and retaliated by slamming her knee into the woman's kidney.
Shego gasped and doubled over, before stomping down on Kim's dominant foot. As the redhead released her grip she took several steps back and drew in a couple of deep breaths.
"Okay, that tears it," she growled, plasma erupting from both hands. Her target barely had time to steady herself before she started to hurl her signature green blasts, painting the whole area with rapid-fire plasma.
Seeing the hail of energy blasts coming her way, Kim transformed her gloves into a pair of scoops and began frantically ducking, dodging and, where possible, returning the projectiles.
The emerald blasts tore up the poolside around her, chucking up shards of tile and melting sun-loungers left and right. A few blasts landed in the pool itself, and the air became hot and humid from the resulting steam.
As she was focused primarily on surviving the onslaught, most of the blasts she sent back went wide of their mark, missing the super-powered woman entirely, but doing some considerable damage to the outside seating and bar area.
It didn't take long before Shego started to burn herself out, and started becoming more economical with her attacks, which finally gave Kim an opening. She cartwheeled to the side and started weaving toward the older woman, refusing to give her a clear shot.
Shego snarled and continued chucking blasts at the teen, more focused on keeping her at bay than anything else. She was already tiring, and there was no way she was going to let herself get dragged to prison twice in quick succession. She scoured the area around her, looking for a viable exit.
It would have paid well to check behind her, as Ron and Rufus reappeared behind her, pushing a cart containing buckets of mud. With a well-placed throw, Rufus landed a mudball at her feet right as she turned, causing her to slip.
"Shit!" She cried as she fell, landing flat on her back.
Kim wasted no time pressing the advantage, leaping on top of the villainess and grabbing both wrists. Shego flared her hands, but it was no use; Wade had built the suit specifically to withstand the burning plasma, and all she was doing was tiring herself further. Even so, she was putting up a valiant fight, snarling as she pushed back against the hero and her super-suit.
"It's over Shego," Kim grunted, struggling to pin down the glowing limbs. "Why don't you just submit?" Even in her worn-out state, the green woman just would not give up.
"My-my princess," she shot back, breathing heavily from the effort, "is that how you were with Eric?"
Kim's eyes glazed over in shock, and Shego started to push back harder, thinking she'd gained the upper hand. She was shocked a second later when the girl's forehead came down right in the centre of her face.
"Fuwk, oww, wat the heww pwincwss?!" She yelled, as blood started to gush out of her nose. She could only hope it wasn't broken.
Green arms going limp, Kim overpowered her foe and flipped her over, pinning her fully. Confident that she wasn't going to try anything else, she disengaged a glove from her suit and used it to bind Shego's hands behind her back; she figured the plasma-resistant material should be able to hold her at least until law enforcement got there.
Sure enough, whether called by Wade, the resort, or one of the many on-lookers, the police showed up in no time at all to secure the fugitive and start taking statements. As she watched her arch-nemesis getting cuffed, she wanted to feel the high that usually accompanied a job well done, but this time it wasn't there. The way that Shego had gotten a rise out of her so easily, just by name-dropping the hoax she had been set up with... it made her feel like they'd finally won. Drakken and Shego had finally bested her.
The thought lingered with her as the Global Justice choppers arrived, and she clambered aboard without a word. Another helicopter ride, another hours-long stretch with nothing but Ron's small-talk and her own thoughts to accompany her.
'Dammit Shego, what have you done to me?'
Thank you everyone for waiting so patiently for this chapter, I hope the opening wasn't too much of a tease! I had hoped to get this out so much sooner, but as always real life knocked things off course. While I can make no promises as to when you'll see the next chapter, hopefully it will be a shorter wait than this time?