Ch.83
When Shego woke up after having the mind control chip removed she was in a small tatami room in Japan which was promptly set ablaze by her plasma. Her out of control defense mechanism had her powers burn down a section of the centuries old school and the clothes she wore before Yori came into view.
Shego felt her heart stop for a moment as Yori approached her.
"Yori." Shego said barely above a whisper.
"Shego-san it is good to see you awake and apologies for not being by your side when you woke up." Yori said instead of a greeting.
"Yori, where am I?" Shego asked looking around and not recognizing the plaze.
"I've brought you to my home in Japan so that you may heal and rest." Yori explained and added. "Welcome to Yamanouchi."
Shego would have thought it impossible but when she learned she was at Yori's place she relaxed slightly. That was all her body needed to finally express the anguish she had been experiencing for months. Shego started crying. Slow tears at first. Then it intensified into full, heartbreaking wails as she dropped to her knees.
Shego was incredibly hurt inside. The closest thing to a father figure after her parents died had betrayed her. Abused her and hurt her in a way where she had trouble even trusting that others wouldn't do the same. Drakken managed to do what no one else had done, he broke her.
As Shego cried she felt Yori get closer and couldn't help but yell. "Stay away!"
"I don't believe I will, Shego-san." Yori said calmly.
"You'll get hurt." Shego said as a last form of protest.
"You wouldn't hurt me Shego-san." Said Yori as she closed the distance between them.
To Shego's relief her plasma allowed access to Yori who came close and held Shego in a hug though her clothes turned to ash.
"Why did he betray me? Why did he let all that happen to me?" Shego's wails became desperate as she shouted at no one in particular. She asked knowing there would be no answers but the questions needed voicing.
Yori listened and held Shego tighter, rubbing her back with a hand. Shego continued to cry for hours the tears never seeming to stop until she cried herself to sleep around sunset, holding onto Yori desperately. All the while Yori listened and comforted her.
~~~~~
The next time Shego woke up her plasma flared as her consciousness cleared but before she was aware of her surroundings she felt Yori stroking her back and looked around to see they were in a garden with flowers and a pond though the flowers near them were ashes.
"Did you sleep well Shego-san?" Yori asked calmly.
Shego blushed a bit at the circumstances but nodded.
"Good." Yori said and got a troubled look as she organized her words, eventually asking. "Want to talk about what's happened?"
Shego's eyes widened and her body started trembling in answer to the question. Yori held her close till the trembling stopped.
"Sorry, Shego-san." Yori apologized realizing it was too soon.
"Thanks Yori." Shego said before recalling her fight with Ron prompting her to ask. "How is Ron? How bad did I hurt him?"
"The injuries Ron recieved from you were not permanent Shego-san, rest assured." Yori soothed.
Still, Shego noticed that Yori didn't answer her first question.
"Yori, how is Ron?" Shego asked again.
"To answer that I need to explain what happened after Ron stopped Drakken's plans..." Yori said and moved to explain the rescue of his classmates and the consequences from his actions. "...Ron was declared brain dead after the surgery and was brought to Yamanouchi along with you for his recovery."
Shego was stunned into silence by the news, two words replaying in her mind. 'Brain dead!' Shego's body started trembling again.
"Why him?" Shego whispered.
"He will recover Shego-san." Yori said with conviction snapping Shego's head up to look into her eyes.
Shego saw no uncertainty in those eyes and couldn't help but wonder how Yori was so certain.
"Can I see him?" Shego asked.
"Of course, though it might be problematic if your powers keep burning your surroundings." Yori said as she stood.
Shego saw her point and with conscious effort managed to reign in her plasma. Shego estimated fifteen minutes before she lost control.
"I'm ready." Shego declared.
Nodding, Yori helped Shego to her feet and led the way from the garden into the building. A few turns in Yori stopped outside a room and slid the door open. Shego's eyes were instantly drawn to the single bed in the room.
On the bed lay Ron but not as Shego expected. There was no respirator or heart monitor hooked to his body. He was so still Shego would have mistaken him for dead had his chest not occasionally raised to take in fresh air. Still rooted in place, Shego struggled with her emotions, reigning in her powers and questions about how a brain dead person could breath on his own.
Eventually the questions won out.
"How come he is breathing on his own?" Shego whispered.
"That is merely an illusion." Yori said and moved to explain. "Remember Ron-san creation, the Neuro Linker?" Shego nodded. "We'll if you take a closer look it is around Ron's neck. Through it Bebe-san is keeping his body functional and monitoring his vitals. In fact that is how he managed to make it to the hospital."
"Oh." Shego said and looking at Ron she asked. "Can Bebe communicate while keeping Ron going?"
"Yes, I can." Bebe answered the question herself through a speaker by the bed then greeted. "Hello Shego."
"Hey Bebe." Shego greeted then asked. "Can you be trusted?"
"I have no negative intentions towards Ron." Bebe explained.
Shego took a moment to let that sink in before speaking again. "Good enough for me."
Then Shego finally entered the room and approached the bed. She tried to grab his hand but stopped inches away from it, hand trembling and thoughts of the men that raped her. Shego knew that Ron was different but her body refused to listen.
Shego and Yori spent ten minutes in the room with Ron before the strain of keeping her powers restrained had Shego sweating and they went back to the garden.
A few minutes later Yori asked. "Shego-san are you going to be able to restrain your powers again? There is someone who I would like you to meet and you would need some clothes to make a good impression."
Blushing, Shego reigned her power and followed Yori. They stopped at a different room and got dressed in simple white gi, then Yori led the way further inside. They stopped at another sliding door and this time Yori knocked before a wizened voice spoke.
"Enter." Master Sensei said.
Yori entered and Shego followed close behind her. After closing the door Yori turned and bowed before speaking.
"Master Sensei, I would like to introduce Shego-san. Shego-san this is Master Sensei the head of Yamanouchi." Yori said.
"A pleasure to meet you Master Sensei and thank you for allowing me into your home." Shego greeted.
"It is my honor to help one so close to Stoppable-san and Yori." Master Sensei replied.
'This is Ron's mentor!' Shego realized.
After seating Shego noticed the elderly Sensei was looking at her as if accessing her before speaking and waited quietly before interrupting. Ten minutes later the strain of keeping her powers in check had her sweating and Shego was about to suggest she excuse herself when Master Sensei seemed to teleport in front of her and jabbed her stomach. Shego was startled and stopped restraining her power but nothing happened. Jumping to her feet she distanced herself from Sensei but the man was already seated again.
"What did you do to me?" Shego asked.
"I saw you struggling to control your power so I merely assisted." Master Sensei explained.
"How?" Shego asked.
"I stopped your Ki from leaving your dantian." Sensei again explained. Seemingly able to guess her next question Sensei said. "Do not worry, it is merely temporary."
Relieved Shego sat.
After a while Sensei spoke. "Shego-san how would you like to receive training here at Yamanouchi?"
"Training?" Shego repeated.
"Yes." Sensei said stroking his beard. "Training. Your abilities manifest through Ki but your heart, mind and body are in chaos from what you've went through. Making your heart suffer and your mind want to protect you from harm while your body is uncertain which direction to take. With my help you might be able to align your heart, body and mind to suit your purpose once again."
"You would help me even knowing who I am?" Shego asked incredulous.
"Why not?" Sensei replied stunning her.
Shego sank into silence once more, now realizing that Ron's mentor might not be as black and white as good and evil defined.
"Aren't you good guys?" Shego asked.
"We are a ninja school and as such we do what is necessary to achieve our goals." Sensei replied.
"I see." Shego said proceeding to mull over the offer and asked. "Are there attachments in your offer to teach me?"
"None." Sensei replied.
"Okay then, I accept." Shego agreed.
~~~~~
Over the next month Shego started having nightmares which stopped abruptly when she dreamt of Ron. In the dream he simply held her and Shego relaxed into his arms.
During the day Sensei helped Shego achieve a meditative state and try to find balance within herself. After two weeks Shego could enter a meditative state on her own and started the next steps into staying in that state. When she could maintain the state Sensei proceeded to guide Shego into attaining control over her mindscape.
Shego's mindscape was chaos at first. A storm was raging, lightning struck about and the ground quakes occasionally. After entering her mindscape, Shego followed Sensei's instructions and ventured deeper into the chaos. First, she looked for the source of the quakes which led her to an erupting volcano. As she got closer anger overtook Shego and she had trouble getting to the source.
It took a couple of days before Shego managed to climb to the edge of the volcano and realize what it represented. It was her feelings of anger at Drakken's betrayal of her trust. Of what what he put her through and what he did to their relationship. While Shego understood the source her anger did not subside but she learned to control it, to harness and focus it where it needed to go. When it was done the volcano wasn't erupting every few moments like it would burn all the surroundings.
Next, Shego sought the source of the lightning which as incredible as it sounds was a single jet black cloud. The cloud flitted about and lightning would strike in it's passage. As Shego followed the route of the cloud, which at first seemed random but after observing it she understood it, she felt the henchmen and other men who thanks to Drakken had their way with her. She felt them touch her, beat her and treat her as an object for their lust instead of a person. She had the thought that other men would look at her the same, that Ron would treat her the same and nearly felt despair. The cloud brought out her fear that she lost her value, that Ron would treat her differently. It was nearly a week later that she blasted the cloud apart and conquered the unreasonable fear that she lost her value.
The source of the storm was harder to find but the easiest to understand. Shego felt weak as she stood in the eye of the storm. It's how she's felt since Drakken first put the mind control chip in her. The mighty Shego was brought to her knees despite the incredible power she wielded. Shego felt helpless in the face of the world now that she knew she couldn't always protect herself. That was the one thing she's always been certain of and to have it taken away left her feeling exposed to the world. It was Yori that helped her back to her feet so to speak. One day Shego was exercising and she had pushed herself past her limits and her legs gave out nearly leading her to land on her face and Yori had simply been there to catch her making Shego realize that she had someone's support. The next time she entered her mindscape the storms were nowhere in sight.
When Shego informed Sensei that she succeeded in bringing her mindscape into control her training officially began. Sensei started by teaching her a technique to harness Ki from nature instead of letting it naturally replenish like Shego had been doing. The technique modeled after a Phoenix when she completed the cycle and Shego could have sworn she felt instantly stronger upon it's completion. Once Shego had the hang of sensing and absorbing Ki Sensei moved to teach her utilization and control.
Here Shego was struggling for a bit due to her ingrained habits but once she got passed them her horizons broadened. Her first major breakthrough was being able to emit plasma from her feet and once she got the hang of it she started experimenting on techniques to make use of it. The next was emitting plasma from any given point in her body which marked a great advancement from only being able to release plasma from her hands or subconsciously coat herself in it. Her last major breakthrough was manifestations or making solid constructs made of plasma though without a constant flow of Ki they would dissipate.
On a side note Shego had learned the levitation technique since it gave her an idea on how it could be combined with her powers.