The Resurrection of the Sixth
A Kim Possible Fanfiction
immo
author's note: It just becomes more confusing. Hahahaha. This chapter brings in a much-loved and missing character and goes back to how all of this started, set almost right after Shego's death in 'a few new tricks'. Enjoy!
They had stolen the resurrective plant, the lingzhi herb from its guardians. Yinchun had hidden nearby as Xaio Qing and Bai Su Zhen fought with the guardians and lead them away from the treasure they were guarding. Yinchun had carefully dug out the plant, wrapped it in moss and fled back to She Cun, back to Shego's body. She was joined a short time later by Xaio Qing and Bai Su Zhen in her flight back to Shego. Upon arrival at the site where the fiery woman had been buried, they immediately started digging at the soft earth, joined by the family of foxes that had been guarding the small area. Watched by an old woman who trusted these creatures to fulfill their promise. The moon and the stars overhead provided enough light for these creatures to work quickly and efficiently, claws scrabbling on wood within a few minutes.
"Gently, everyone. Gently." Bai Su Zhen instructed. Yinchun's family hefted the heavy coffin upwards, slowly and carefully. The lacquered box rose from the ground and Grandma Lo let out a shuddering breath, wrapping her cloak tighter around her thin frame. She started, but relaxed when she realized Xaio Qing had placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I will bring her back." Xaio Qing promised. "Everything will be fine."
"I... trust you." Grandma Lo clutched at the hand on her shoulder. She needed to trust their longtime protector. She needed this to be made right.
"And your trust shall not be misplaced." Bai Su Zhen pushed the heavy coffin lid off with a flick of her wrist then motined Yinchun forward. The fox was still breathing harshly, winded from her flight back to She Cun. She had the moss-wrapped lingzhi herb clutched gently in her hands and now she unwrapped her precious package carefully.
"Give it to me." Red, Yinchun's mother, held out her hands for the herb. As the matriarch of the fox family, she would be overseeing the resurrection. The foxes were an insurance that the snakes had invested in. Traditionally, foxes were creatures that were close to the dead. For Red's family, this was true and Red had educated all her children in biology and phisiology of the animals and humans and to do so, some times they procured cadavers for their studies. All of Red's children had been responsible and furthered their educations themselves, some even managing to get doctorates or apprentice themselves to a healer in their human form. Because Shego's body was so broken, the foxes would have to use all the skills they had to put her together again.
"Aiya," Red clucked her tongue as she looked down at the body. Shego's skin was already a motley grey, limbs stiff with rigor mortis. Shego's funeral clothes did nothing to hide the death wound Xaio Qing had dealt her, since the clothes sunk a bit into the hole in her chest. "This is going to take a lot of work. Before we apply the herb, we'll have to knit her back together."
The foxes all crowded around the coffin with Bai Su Zhen at the head of the coffin as a power source.
"This will not hurt at all. You will feel a... pulling sensation." Red patted Bai Su Zhen's arm, then held out her hand for the White Snake who placed her hand in the fox's. Fingers intertwining, Red gave a small smile as she felt the White Snake allow her power to flow into the fox.
"Make it quick." Bai Su Zhen nodded, eyes locked on Xaio Qing. This was for Xaio Qing and the White Snake wanted her sister to know this. Xaio Qing nodded timidly, acknowledging Bai Su Zhen's gaze and the unspoken words between them.
"Ready?" Red looked around at all her children, the family looking very much like a surgical unit preparing to operate on a body. The human faces her children wore watched her attentively and nodded. "I will act as a conduit to Lady Bai Su Zhen. Work quickly, children, but be careful."
"Yes, mother." They replied in unison, immediately moving to work. Red tails wrapped around their neighbour's leg, making a chain that connected them to their mother yet left their hands free. Rubbing their hands together, the family exchanged eager looks before lifting the body up carefully so they could put the lip back on the coffin. The body was then set on top of the box carefully, so it served as a sort of operating table. Now, their hands were on the body, pulling, pressing and kneading. Treating Shego's body like dough, leaving not an inch of skin untouched as they urged the body to loosen up. They flipped her body over and over until the stiffness was gone, then they started pressing fingers into her wounds inquisitively.
"That I will work on. Concentrate on her other injuries." Red said when she noticed her children hovering over the gaping hole in Shego's chest. They nodded their assent and passed over the deathblow to take inventory of Shego's cuts and bruises, feeling for shattered and broken bones and setting them back in to place.
"M'lady, please keep your hand on my shoulder." It hadn't taken the foxes more than ten minutes or so to prepare the body for the herb's reception and they all watched their mother attentively as she worked and told them what she was doing so they could learn this procedure.
"Children, you might not come across this ever again but pay close attention, for you never know." Red took the plant in her hands and held it out for the foxes to look at. "The lingzhi herb MUST be harvested with roots intact in this kind of situation. For deaths where the body is intact--for example, drownings, blunt trauma--the roots will not be necessary. I recommend that all harvesting of the plant include the roots, though."
Red very carefully placed the root inside of the hollow. It was almost imperceptible, but over Red's shoulder, Bai Su Zhen could see the roots... wriggling. As if coming awake slowly. The loud gasp from one of Red's children told Lady White Snake that her eyes were not lying to her, that the plant was moving on its own. The roots stretched, anchoring itself in the center of Shego's chest, sending out more roots until a mass of vegetation filled the hole completely.
"Now. If you please, my lady." Red backed away and watched the White Snake place a hand over the place where Shego's heart should have been.
"Ahh!" Bai Su Zhen winced as the plant immediately sensed her and started tapping in to her as an energy source. While the foxes were the technicians, Lady White Snake provided power in this operation.
"Watch how the plant is molting and its roots are growing and weaving together," Red pointed out to her sons and daughters. "That will thicken and start changing to flesh. Then the plant will suck up more energy for one big jolt to revitalize the dead cells in her body... there should be a large text on this at home. I am unsure of where I have placed it though..."
Lady White Snake clenched her teeth together and sucked air into her lungs, trying to drown out the sensation of the lingzhi plant with the sound of the air, hissing in and out between her teeth. The sensation was very much like the feel of string dragging through your skin when one was getting sewn up after an accident. Except this dragging and pulling sensation came from right in the centre of Bai Su Zhen's body.
'The discomfort, however, is multiplied by a hundred. Just like when I was bringing my husband back...' Bai Su Zhen thought grimly. 'Just... do... not... vomit...'
All of a sudden, Shego bolted upright, ripping apart the connection she had with Bai Su Zhen, her flailing arms knocking the already unbalanced woman to the ground. Coughing and hacking up black stuff, she threw herself from the top of the coffin to hang over the side of her grave, gagging and dry-heaving into the hole.
"Um..." Red blinked, looking around at her children who had all backed up in alarm when Shego had come back to life so suddenly and violently. "Well... I am pretty sure that that should not have happened..."
"What's wrong with her?" Grandma Lo was on her feet and running to Shego's side, panicking as she watched the strong woman she knew choking on the bile that she was trying to empty from her body.
"Get down!" Xaio Qing had smelled that distinct scent of Shego's plasma and knew the green-skinned woman was powering up. The Green Snake got to Grandma Lo just in time, covering the elderly woman with her body as Shego let out a blood-curdling scream and she was a supernova of green heat, burning and engulfing everything around her. The output of so much energy scorched the earth in a 3-foot radius around her. If Xaio Qing hadn't acted quickly, Lo po-po would have been a scorch mark on the ground.
"Who are you?" Shego snarled in a scratchy-whispery voice, her eyes rolling wildly. She was crouched in a fighting stance, poised to attack at any moment. Though she looked battle-ready, Shego's breathing was quick and shallow, her whole body shaking like a leaf.
"Shego," Xaio Qing got to her feet quickly and spoke English, hoping it would calm her once-disciple. "Shego, Shego. Be calm. I mean you no harm."
The words seemed to do the trick as the plasma-wielding villainess focused on the Green Snake. Gulping in air like a dying fish, Shego blinked rapidly, eyes locked on Xaio Qing. Then she reached out her hand to the woman and Xaio Qing darted forward to take Shego into her arms. As soon as she did that though, she stiffened in Shego's arms, noting right away the difference. Unable to move or pull away, Shego's hand cupped the nape of Xaio Qing's neck, pulling her closer.
"Child..." Shego's breathy whisper sent shivers down the Green Snake's spine. "I am not the one called Shego."
Xaio Qing let out a low whimper as the hand tightened on her neck. Bai Su Zhen took a couple of steps forward, alarmed by the sound coming from her sister.
"How long have I been asleep?" Shego's strange voice was a tortured whisper, eyes now locked on the White Snake. "How long have I been buried here?"
"Who are you?" Lady White Snake immediately sensed it, flowing off of this woman in waves. Power. And the source didn't seem to have any limit to it. It was... somehow familiar, though.
Shego chuckled wearily, humourlessly. Her hold on Xaio Qing loosened and the Green Snake finally broke free of Shego's hold and ran in to Bai Su Zhen's arms, fearful of the power she had felt.
"It saddens me that my own children do not know who I am." Shego sighed, looking up at the moon, studying the skies and the stars with wonder. "I must have been gone a long time for my own children to forget who I am."
"I do not know who you are, but I am this close to ripping you apart for scaring my sister." Bai Su Zhen held Xaio Qing posessively, stroking the back of the other snake's head in a calming gesture. Her threats were empty. She knew it, this stranger knew it. Shego threw her head back and laughed in amusement.
"Know me, then. I am the Sixth." The person who was not Shego announced. "You have woken me. And for that, I am grateful."
"Shego." Grandma Lo hobbled forward briskly, eyes trained on that mangled, familiar face.
"I am not." A trace of annoyance entered Shego's voice. "I am the Sixth. One of the Twelve. Where are my brethren? Do they still slumber?"
"Lady," Yinchun laughed, shaking her head. Unbelievable! They went through all of that, stealing the lingzhi herb, to resurrect the wrong person! Because that was the only logical explanation, that they had gotten the wrong person. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say we have NO idea what the hell you're talking about!"
Frustrated, the Sixth frowned. "The Twelve. Did the hunters manage to capture all of my brethren?"
"Who?" Another one of the foxes asked, confused.
"The Twelve!" The Sixth shouted out in exasperation. "I am the Sixth! The Snake!"
"The Animals." Grandma Lo's voice brought silence as all attention focused on her. "The First is the Rat. Then the Ox. Followed by the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon... the Snake. You're the Sixth in the zodiac race. But... that's just a story. It's not real."
"We are very much real. Now, I cannot waste time standing here trying to convince you of our existence. I need to find my brothers and sisters." The Sixth turned away from the direction of She Cun to the forest but before she could take more than two steps, she stumbled to the ground, painful seizures rendering her powerless. The foxes and Grandma Lo immediately sprang forward to the woman, not knowing what was happening but trying to help.
"What's happening to her?" Tears squeezed out of the corners of the old woman's eyes.
"We... we do not know." Red said apologetically, sweating a bit at the thought of how unhappy the snakes would be after they got over the shock of Shego coming back not quite Shego and how they would probably blame the fox matriarch for this.
"Kimmie." The familiar voice barking out that familiar name made everyone freeze as Shego braced herself up off the ground, looking up at the snakes. "Where's Kim?"
"Shego!" Xaio Qing's face lit up with happiness, knowing instinctively that this was truly Shego. Then... what was that talk of the Sixth from before? Before any questions could be asked though, Bai Su Zhen had moved forward, chopping down on the back of Shego's head swiftly. The green-skinned woman fell to the ground, knocked out.
"Why did you do that?" Grandma Lo asked, falling to her knees in front of Shego's prone body.
"Something is wrong." Bai Su Zhen pointed to several foxes. "You four. Carry her back to our home at Er Mei. Quickly!"
Before Grandma Lo could ask more questions, the White Snake spun to face the old woman. "You are not to speak of this to anyone. Do not tell anybody what has happened here, until we figure what is wrong. Go."
Bai Su Zhen swept out of the clearing, taking Xaio Qing with her and leaving a few foxes to take Lo po-po back to the village. The graveyard was quickly deserted, leaving only an empty coffin and a deep hole that used to hold a woman named Shego.
"Shego." The green-skinned woman jumped a bit at the sound of Xaio Qing's voice. The Green Snake winced at the reaction she got, knowing exactly why the woman jumped at the sound of her voice.
"Sorry." Shego muttered, apologizing even though she knew she didn't have to. Cursed herself inwardly for beingso afraid of her master. But she remembered how it had felt when Xaio Qing had punched her fist through her chest. Ripped her heart out and ground it to a bloody pulp.
"No." Xaio Qing fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, swaying at the threshold of the doorway. "I should be the one saying sorry."
Shego chuckled. "Well... I guess the reasonable thing for me to say is 'you're forgiven', isn't it?"
They both knew it was going to be harder than that. Shego had been dead, but now she was alive again. She was even starting to shed her scales and healthy soft green skin below told them she was changing back to human again. Silence reigned in between them again before Xaio Qing chose to speak again.
"But I am not. Forgiven, that is." Xaio Qing smiled sadly at Shego. Sitting in the middle of the bed, the woman looked so... small. So fragile. Xaio Qing had completely lost it on this brilliant woman, taken out years and years of anger, frustration and loneliness on this woman's body. Killed her with the weight of all of it.
"It is fine." Xaio Qing reasurred when she saw the woman try to reply to the Green Snake. "You do not need to, I do not deserve it. I betrayed your trust completely. But Shego, you know, I will do everything I can to make it up to you."
Shego gave her master a strained smile. "I know."
"Soon as we find out what is wrong with you, you may leave." Bai Su Zhen suddenly appeared interrupting the two. She brushed past Xaio Qing with a tray of food, entering the room. The Green Snake still hovered near the door, unsure of what to do with herself, waiting for Shego's permission to enter. But Shego never gave it. And after a while of standing by the door, Xaio Qing left wordlessly.
"You know, she IS sorry." Bai Su Zhen's familiarity with Shego, borne of her time disguised as Ting Ting, Vince's young daughter, let her speak freely with Shego.
"She killed me." Shego said defensively. "You expect it all to go away?"
"Why should it not?" Bai Su Zhen placed the tray gently on the bed. A simple fare of congee and vegetables. Nothing too heavy, since Bai Su Zhen and Red were convinced that there was something wrong with Shego still and didn't want to put unnececessary stress on the newly-resurrected body. "You are alive again. Things have been made right."
Shego looked at Bai Su Zhen incredulously. "You seriously don't know why we're like this, do you?"
"Then why do you not explain it to me?" The White Snake asked impatiently. "It is difficult for me to watch you two like this. Xaio Qing is not feeling good about this--"
"I'm glad she's not." Shego ground out. "You don't understand. She HAS to go through this. She betrayed my trust and hurt me. She understands that and she's trying to make it better and I'm letting her try. That's the best we can do right now and if I just laugh and brush it off, it'll never be better."
Bai Su Zhen just scoffed and shook her head.
"Lets compare it with you and ah Cheung, howabout that? Do you think if you gave him back his daughter, that would solve everything?"
The White Snake paused, then shook her head slowly.
"You know why? That's just like sweeping things under the carpet. Underneath it all, the dirt is still there. You need to fix it first." Shego pointed out quietly. "If I forgave her now, it'll just be superficial. She'll know that I didn't really mean it."
Bai Su Zhen nodded grudgingly, feeling a little bit jealous of the relationship Shego and Xaio Qing had. They were obviously close enough to have these kinds of subtleties in their relationship and were trying to heal on their own. Bai Su Zhen would've liked to continue this conversation, to learn further from this interesting human, but a knock at the door stopped them.
"Excuse me," Red stood at the door with Yinchun and several of her more talented fox-children. "Would it be alright for us to start the session now?"
"Come in." Shego smiled at the fox family. They were a welcome distraction from the heaviness the snakes brought. That and the snakes made something inside of her... move. It was a sleepy movement, as if whatever it was woke up a bit every time the snakes came near...
"Were you eating?" Yinchun was on the bed in an instant, looking at Shego's meal curiously. "Is it good?"
"I haven't tried." Shego picked up the porcelain spoon and took a bite of her congee, smiling a bit at the taste, suddenly remembering Kim. Her first day in She Cun, Kim had tried her hand at making congee and the look of disappointment on her face when she had taken a bite of the bland rice porridge had been priceless.
"Is it good?" Yinchun noted the smile on Shego's face. "Can I try?"
"Yinchun!" Red scolded. "She is sick!"
"Not REALLY sick." Yinchun rolled her eyes at her mother.
Red huffed, ignoring her daughter's reply. Bai Su Zhen gracefully gave up her spot so Red could sit next to Shego and fuss over her as the green-skinned woman ate.
"How do you feel?" Red asked patiently.
"Fine."
"Eating okay?"
"Yeah."
Red's eyebrow twitched. "Bodily functions?"
"Alright."
"Sleeping well?"
"Actually..." Shego's hesitant reply drew everybody's attention. "I've been having weird dreams..."
"What?" Red leaned forward. "Since when?"
"Since I started sleeping again." Shego pushed her food tray away and one of the foxes gave a quick wave, magicking it away. "I thought it was just, you know, because of how I died and when I got back... but I've been having sort of the same dream every time I fall asleep. Not like, the same, but some things are the same."
"Like what?"
Shego twisted the sheets in her fists, frowning. "A snake keeps appearing in my dreams. And she calls herself the Sixth and she talks to me every night. And it's really annoying, but recently she's been up even when I'm not asleep and she's been giving me background commentary on everything. It's like a voice at the back of my head."
The people around Shego fell quiet, unnoticed by the bedridden villainess who continued talking. "At first, she just wanted to know how long she had been asleep, but I didn't know what she was talking about. So she asked me what date it was and I told her and she seemed even more confused. Then she asked me about Bai Su Zhen and Xaio Qing and she calls me her 'Avatar'."
Bai Su Zhen leaned forward unconsciously. "Her Avatar?"
"Yeah."
"What else?" Yinchun frowned at this, exchanging looks with her brothers and sisters. They had been discussing the possibility that they did something wrong during the resurrection, possibly her brain had been dead for far too long for the lingzhi plant to have worked. But their mother had been adamant in the plant's power. It would bring back a person from death within a certain window of time. And with the foxes' help in chasing death's effects away from the body's limbs, it should have worked PERFECTLY.
"She told me to tell all of you a story. And then tell you what she has planned." Shego looked around the room. "Could you call Xaio Qing in? She needs to hear this too."
One of the foxes left to find the Green Snake. Within a few minutes, Xaio Qing had hurried into the room, distraught.
"Are you okay?" Xaio Qing flew to the bed, grabbing Shego's hand and folding it in both of her own, ignoring the sight of Shego's eyes widening a bit in fear, her own fear over Shego's well-being overruling any kind of reservations.
"She is fine, love." Bai Su Zhen soothed, dragging Xaio Qing away from a visibly uncomfortable Shego. "She just has a story to tell us."
"Oh." Xaio Qing's cheeks tinged pink in embarassment. "That is all?"
"That, and the Sixth has a message for us."
"Oh?" Xaio Qing settled down in her elder sister's arms. "The Sixth? I thought we said she was dellusional."
"Excuse me, I'm sitting right here." Shego eyed Xaio Qing dryly.
"Oh. Sorry."
"There's alot of that going around, isn't there? Sorries." Shego scoffed, regretting it almost immediately when she saw a hurt look flash across Xaio Qing's face. She quickly tried to cover it with an earnest smile though, which made Shego feel even worse.
"Well, please, start with your story."
Shego nodded, looking around at all present. Everybody in the room had settled on her huge bed and it resembled a slumber party. Shego sighed and shook her head, a little bit amused at how ridiculous she looked surrounded by good looking men and women. It was like she was a sultan in a harem.
"You've all heard the story of the race? How the zodiac animals took their place?" Everybody nodded. "Well, the Sixth said there were two stories: one that the public had popularized. And the true story behind it all, which is the one she wants me to tell.
"Long ago, long before humans started living in mud huts, the Sixth said a star fell down from the sky. The animals saw it falling and they were all afraid cuz when it hit it triggered an earthquake and the dust the star had kicked up blocked out the sun for a couple of days. The animals ran from the confusion, all except eleven animals who went to investigate and find out what was going on because they could hear it singing to them."
"Singing to them?" Xaio Qing blinked. "It was alive?"
"It was very much alive."
"Hey, how come there were only eleven animals?" Yinchun pointed out the error in the story.
Shego frowned, trying to remember what the Sixth had told her while the Sixth chattered in her head. It felt... really crowded in her brain. "She said it was because the Fifth came from the stone. But he had left it to investigate the land and make himself a body. He hadn't expected animals to be attracted to the stone and come looking for it so when he came back, he was the Fifth to touch the stone."
Everybody fell silent again as the story continued.
"The fallen star had landed deep in a mountain, surrounded by a raging river that was difficult for many animals to cross. However, the first to arrive was a small rodent. The Sixth doesn't even remember if it was a mouse or a rat, but it was First. That was all that mattered. It arrived, riding on top of an inquisitive water buffalo's head. The rat, being better able to see in the dark, found the stone within the mountain first and approached this glowing star that had fallen from the sky. It was the first to touch the star, to better smell this star. The water buffalo, this Ox, took much longer to find this stone in the dark and his companion and was curious to see that the animal had frozen to the spot; the glow from the stone had enveloped the First. The buffalo moved forward and also touched his nose to the stone and was stuck to the stone. He was the Second.
"The Third was a Tiger, who's territory included the mountain. Maybe a bit too brave, it sought out the disturbance and quickly became stuck to the rock too when she tried to smack the glowing stone with her paw. Next, came a rabbit, who had barely made it across the river. There are some truths in the popularized version: The Rabbit did have help becoming the Fourth. The tiny animal crossed the river by jumping from stone to stone, but had slipped into the river and managed to grab hold of a floating branch to keep from drowning. The Fifth had been flying along when it happened upon the Rabbit, and he blew it across the river to the mountain."
Shego could feel something stealing over her as she told the story, wasn't at all surprised when HER voice overlapped with her own and they spoke in unison as ONE.
"And the Twelve were formed like this, the Sixth - the Snake, taking a page out of the First's book, arrived hidden upon the Seventh, the Horse. The Ram, a hardy animal, made it to be the Eighth with help from the Monkey and the Rooster who took the title of Ninth and Tenth, respectively. The stone had just enough room around it for the Dog and finally, the Pig to join the Twelve."
The otherfolk in the room all stared at Shego, the voices coming out of her mouth made the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. In fact, one of the foxes who had not opted for human form had all his hackles raised.
"That is... like how you and your brothers gained your powers. From a falling star." Xaio Qing remembered when Shego had told her that story, how she got the ability to light up at will. A meteor had come crashing down through their treehouse, changing the lives of Shego and her siblings forever.
"Almost exactly like it," Shego/Sixth nodded. "The nature of the power is actually quite similar, it's just that while my brothers and I specialized in certain powers, the Twelve could change the world with theirs. They were able to affect things on a whole different level."
"So what does the Sixth want?" Yinchun's question turned heads. The fox watched Shego suspiciously. "Are you listening to me, Snake, or the Sixth or whatever you're calling yourself? What do you want?"
Shego's face seemed to change as it flattened out into an unreadable expression. Shego was no longer at the wheel, apparent in the singular voice that came out of Shego's throat. The same voice from the night before. "I want to find my brethren. We have... much to do. But I feel... so weak right now. How is it that I do not have full control of this body? Did you not kill her at the site of my prison? Did you kill her somewhere else and wait too long to bring the body to me? How did you know to free me if you did not know of me?"
While Xaio Qing bristled at the way the Sixth had casually asked about killing Shego, Red answered the question. "Shego was dead, had already been dead for a good few days. We used the lingzhi herb to resurrect her."
"That would explain a lot." The Sixth sighed.
"I do not understand..."
"Let me continue the story. We worked, the Twelve of us, for the betterment of all. We had these powers and we... understood. Everything. And nothing all at once. We wanted to make it better. So we decided that since we had the power, we would do something about it. But the Twelve of us knew that we would be stretched too thin. So we bestowed power onto those that sought it, for those are the ones we thought, would help change the world."
"That's stupid." Yinchun scoffed, winced a bit when her mother smacked her shoulder, scandalized at how rude her daughter was being. That didn't stop Yinchun from continuing on her speel, though. "Didn't you even think that the people who seek power could be corrupt? That they might use it for their own benefit and not for those of the whole?"
"We were... naive. We found out quickly and made it harder. But should not what is precious be shared? We could not keep it from others, so we made the rules more stringent, the process would not be easy on the impatient, nor would it be conceivable to those with less than honourable intentions." The Sixth smiled a bit now. "And it worked for a time. Humans noticed the difference right away. The more impatient, the ones who wanted their wants satisfied immediately plotted quietly, just below our radar. We did not know what was happening until the first amongst us was taken. The Fifth was the first one... he was key, since he came from the star that gave us power. His own sons were used against him and he could not raise a hand against them. Then we all started falling."
Shego's hands had burst into flames at the thought of the first of them being taken. With effort, she quelled the eerie green flames and patted out the small embers on the cuffs of her simple white shirt absentmindedly.
"We were ripped from our bodies, or, in some cases, our bodies were made our own prisons." It took effort to control Shego's flames from lighting up her hands again as the emotions the Sixth was feeling danced across her Avatar's face. "To free us, we needed our Avatars to come for us, but those that represent us are far and few in between. And for them to reside near us in their short lives... well... the chances were low, even for the ages we were imprisoned. Our Avatars had to give up their life for us. Just temporarily, of course, we would not want to harm our own. We would pull them away from that place between life and death and have them carry us in their bodies. But the ideal condition was that we stepped in when they were dying... not when they were born or being resurrected. Shego was not dying when I stepped into her body, she was coming back to life..."
"So what does that mean for Shego?" One of the foxes asked, taking notes with a pen and a notepad. This fox was more interested in his patient and was not at all happy with what should've been a perfect operation, turning into a disaster like this!
"It means that she takes the reins some times. And some times I do. But regardless of who is controlling at the moment and who is remaining dormant, we are both awake and aware of what is happening. If my awakening had happened as it should have, my Avatar would be sleeping soundly inside me and I would have absolute control." The Sixth grimaced at that, not liking the thought of sharing, even though the body wasn't hers. "It would be difficult for me to find all of the Twelve in time."
Red perked up, the last words were a tad too ominous for her liking. "In time? In time for what?"
"When we are together in one body, conscious in this one body, we burn the lifeforce of the body quicker. I could lessen the damage by not using too much of her fire or my power and let her take charge of this body as much as possible, but this is just a short term solution to the problem. I need to find the Twelve in time to stop her from dying again." An explosion of questions was expected and came from all around. It quickly died down when the Sixth raised her hand, trying to get everyone's attention again. "With those conservation efforts in effect, we will be burning the minimum amount of her life and I could stay safely inside this body for around... two passings of the seasons, it only becomes dangerous if I stay in this body past the second winter. If I could awaken the Twelve in time, everything would be alright. Shego will have her life restored to her and her body back and I will be in my own. She is basically just carrying me for a short time. So I will need some help."
"What will you do when you get your body back? What will the Twelve do?" It seemed the foxes were asking all the smart questions. All of Mama Fox's children were sharp as a tack as the Sixth paused, the quiet rested heavily on everybody as Shego's face turned rageful and her hands twisted in the sheets covering her body.
"We will destroy those that imprisoned us. We shall find the traitors and show no mercy." The Sixth smiled thinly. "We shall bathe the world in fire and deliver a harsh blow to this selfish race that does nothing but consume and spread misery to all who encounter them."
The silence after this announcement was impossibly loud.
"Woah." One of Red's sons breathed out.
"I don't think Shego would like that." Yinchun pointed out. "You know. Destroying the world. Even as a self-professed bad-guy, I don't think she agrees with mass-destruction and genocide."
"She does not, but she has already agreed, in exchange for a few exceptions to my rule. She knows we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Either path leads to what I want. And my children," The Sixth looked pointedly at Xaio Qing and Bai Su Zhen. "Will make sure she stays on the path I plan to take."
"I do not think Shego would want me to help you." Xaio Qing had a petulant look on her face that melted away at the soft touch of Shego's hand. The Sixth smiled at her kindly with Shego's face.
"But you will do it any ways, because she will die if the Twelve do not awaken." The Sixth smiled apologetically to Xaio Qing. "I am sorry, my child. But you also have no choice in this matter. As for your sister--"
"You already know where my sister goes, I go." Bai Su Zhen was grudgingly respectful of the Sixth's wiliness. "We have a choice, but our choices have already been shaped by you."
"I also need... a healer." The Sixth looked over at the foxes, her eyes settling on Yinchun's face, the fox's chin lifted defiantly in the face of the predator staring at her. "You. Girl."
"And why should I help YOU?" Yinchun's lip was pulled up slightly in a sneer. Yinchun knew that humanity had their faults, but what the Snake was suggesting would be devastating to this inventive race. The young Yinchun would not do it! The Sixth seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and tilted her head to the side, smiling at the fox. Then she turned her attention to Yinchun's mother.
"I will not tolerate disrespect from your children. And though she might not understand what I am capable of, I am sure you do." The Sixth spoke matter-of-factly. "My Avatar and my children look kindly upon your family and you have garnered their good-will, which leeches into my consciousness. Do not make me make an example out of you, Mrs. Fox."
Yinchun recognized the threat behind the soft-spoken voice and almost wanted to give a retort, to stand up to this bully, but one of her brothers' hand on her arm stilled her.
"My apologies," Red shot her daughter a glance that pleaded with her to hold her tongue. Keeping her fear in check to coolly answer the Sixth. "She will go with you and help you along the way. She has always been a difficult child to discipline."
Yinchun was about to protest again, but this time, one of her younger sisters clutched at her other arm. While Yinchun had lived at Er Mei, she had been the favoured of the mistress of Er Mei and thus, immune to her wrath. While she had lived a life away from home, she learned how to protect herself from the world of men, but feared nothing and no-one. There were no rules set for her and her favoured status made the foxes the favoured family on Er Mei and they became an extension of the snakes' will. Yinchun's siblings, the ones who had stayed at Er Mei lived carefree lives, knew that they only had one rule to follow: listen to the snakes. They had been raised on stories of the snakes eating unruly otherfolk and some of them had seen first-hand, Xaio Qing do just that. The snakes made no idle threats. They were real and concrete warnings to be listened to. And though they had never heard a snake command their favoured sister, they knew this first time, she should listen. Everyone waited with bated breath and let it out when that heavy presence drained away.
"She's gone." Shego croaked out, blinking rapidly. The feeling of being back in the driver's seat again was... rough. The feeling of someone using her body was like running a marathon up a tower. Shego felt winded and weak... and she hated it. "We won't be leaving soon... I... have to... rest."
That was the cue for the foxes to file out, many of the young ones pushing Yinchun out of the room to stop her from saying anything stupid. The only people left were Xaio Qing, Bai Su Zhen and Red.
"Tell... Yinchun to behave." Shego said seriously to Red. "I... can't hold... her back."
Red nodded, knowing that the Sixth lurked just below the surface. "I am sorry. She has always been headstrong."
"She will not be hurt." Xaio Qing said stubbornly. "Do not worry. I will not allow--"
"It's not for you to say." Shego ground out, feeling the Snake's attention on Xaio Qing. "If the Sixth wants her dead, she will be. You need to learn and she needs to learn that you're not not in charge any more. She has to behave. And Xaio Qing, you will BEHAVE."
"Understood." Red nodded, knowing better than to talk back. Xaio Qing felt a trickle of fear run through her veins, a little bit stunned as the word compelled her to do just that. She turned to Red, gaped at the fox mother. Was this how the otherfolk felt when she commanded them? Threatened them? She did NOT like this feeling.
"Ugh..." Shego squeezed her eyes shut and doubled over in pain. Her white shirt was slowly being spotted with blood.
"Shego!" Xaio Qing and Red both flew to the woman's side as the shirt was beginning to turn red, the front and the back of Shego's shirt blooming with the colour. "What is happening?"
"She should not have exerted herself." Red held out her hand to Bai Su Zhen and the White Snake immediately entwined her fingers in Red's. Anchored to the power source, Red placed her hand over Shego's chest, feeling Shego's body pull the power in to fix herself.
"This is the best way." Red spoke softly as Shego closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, slow and deep. "Her wound is barely fixed, having two inside one body takes a toll on said body. With this treatment, her body can pull on Mistress Bai Su Zhen's powers instead of it's own reserve. That would give her even more time. And she will need this extra time to heal, since as her doctor, I would not recommend she do anything besides resting for a good long while."
After stabilizing Shego's condition, Red stripped Shego of her shirt and threw it over her shoulder. Quickly magicking another shirt to her side, Red dressed Shego again. As she was being tucked in, the green-skinned villainess, who looked paler than usual, clutched at Bai Su Zhen's sleeve.
"I need to speak with you."
The White Snake nodded and waved Xaio Qing and Red out of the room. Once they had left, the White Snake sat beside Shego and brushed a hand tenderly across Shego's forehead. She noted with satisfaction that the scales Shego had grown for her transformation was shedding away, green-coloured human skin apparent underneath. Her anatomy was shifting back to that of a human. How much could a body take? How many transformations, metamorphoses, transfigurations could this body undertake? How could a human mind cope with so many changes to it's body?
"Are you alright?"
Shego smiled weakly. "I need you to do something for me."
"Straight to the point, I see. Very well. What might I do for you?"
"For me, not for the Sixth." Shego fidgeted. The White Snake gave a slow dip of her head, giving Shego the go-ahead to continue. "I want you to... keep... Kim Possible away."
"Would you not want to see her?" Bai Su Zhen was a tad bit surprised. She had thought the two were lovers.
"It's too dangerous." Shego shook her head, blinking rapidly again. The White Snake wasn't sure, but she thought she saw tears. "I can't put her through this shit again. I need her far away where she can't get hurt."
"She will try to find you." Bai Su Zhen was sure of this. "If she finds out--"
"Who's going to tell her?" Shego suddenly frowned. "I remember... seeing Lo po-po.."
"She was there when we brought you back."
"Make sure she keeps this a secret."
"We told her to already."
"Tell her, for my sakes, not to let them bring in Kimmie." Shego pleaded. "If she sees me... and what we're going to do..."
"I will not." Bai Su Zhen reassured. "I will bring Lo po-po here and you can speak to her directly, she will be more cooperative if she hears this from you."
"She doesn't trust you two much, hm?" Shego smirked. "That old woman has absolutely no fear."
"She says she is old and will die soon, so she fears nothing." The White Snake smiled humorously. "My descendants are more like my sister than like me. They are fearless."
"They're something else." Shego wheezed, laughing a bit. Bai Su Zhen sat down at Shego's side, studying the green-skinned woman. What was so special about this green-eyed woman that her descendants and her sister loved her so?
"What if what we do attracts her attention?" Bai Su Zhen asked inquisitively. "What will we do?"
"She'll come looking." Shego grimaced. "I want her safe."
"I will tell Mrs. Fox that if we have any... guests... she should do well to keep them here and away from us." The White Snake nodded. "Now please, rest. You are tired."
"Yes." Shego agreed breathlessly as the snake demon tucked her in. By the time Shego's head hit the pillow, she was already out like a light. Bai Su Zhen leaned forward hesitantly, then placed a kiss on the woman's forehead. This green-skinned being's emotions, underneath that tough exterior, was endearing. Pulling back from Shego, the White Snake froze at the sight of Shego's eyes, half-lidded, watching her.
Except, Bai Su Zhen knew it wasn't Shego watching her. Backing up to the door with the Sixth watching her, the White Snake gave a low, respectful bow at the doorway before closing the door silently.
What had they gotten themselves into?
endnote: What have THEY gotten themselves into? What have *I* gotten myself into! This is turning out into a fic of epic proportions! I don't got time for this! lol.