Ch.03
Just after Shego took a break from pleading for medical help, which was hours later, a smoking body and smelling of burnt flesh was dragged into cell and tossed into a corner. Shego stared at the being who brought the body, Warmonga.
"Good, you're awake." Warmonga smiled like a shark that smelled blood. "It's your turn next."
Unlike Ron, who wondered where they even were. Shego knew that they were still on earth as she had paid at least that much attention to Drakken when he ranted about his plan. What she did not expect was Warmonga seeming to have conquered the planet.
"Get up." Warmonga commanded.
"I can't." Shego croaked through her dried throat.
"A ruse for your escape is useless, now stand!" Warmonga demanded.
"I can't!" Shego repeated, then added. "My back has been severely injured and I can't feel most of my body. I need medical attention."
Warmonga eyed Shego closely from where she stood for a whole five minutes before she closed the distance between them and grabbed her by the arm. Lifting Shego onto her shoulder, Warmonga turned to head out the prison cell. As she was being carried Shego finally got a good look at the body that was thrown on the other side of her cell, Stoppable.
A few turns and long walks down empty hallways, Warmonga brought Shego into a room lit by multiple white lights and giving the faint scent of cleaning supplies making her think of a medical bay. Warmonga put Shego down at a table at the center and pressed a few buttons on the panels at the side. The table then seemed to glow and above Shego her body's condition was displayed in a hologram. Shego could see where her spine broke and though the bones were mending nicely, the nerves were still torn and showing no sign of improvement.
"I see that your claims were true." Warmonga casually commented. "For your honesty I shall make you an offer, tell me all you know about the wormhole that brought you here and I'll have your spine treated by the most advanced technology my world has to offer."
For the first time since she woke up on this earth Shego felt hopeful. Thinking quickly and deciding that Warmonga just wanted to confirm what Stoppable already admitted, since she doubted he would have remained quiet through whatever Warmonga did to him, Shego accepted and began to talk. Shego completely missed Warmonga's smile at how easy she had gotten what she wanted.
~~~
Kim spent nearly a week in the hospital under close psychiatric observation before getting prescribed a couple of antidepressants and sleep aids then getting discharged.
At home, Kim was welcomed by her whole family and Monique. Nana gave her a strong hug and whispered that everything will be alright. Her uncle and Joss hugged her next and from Joss's eyes Kim knew she'd been recently crying. Monique still had tears in her eyes as she fiercely hugged Kim and in a corner of her mind Kim was glad that Monique hadn't blamed her for what happened to Ron.
The twins weren't as energetic as they used to be and were holding Rufus who seemed to be rapidly losing weight.
"We're glad your doing better, Kim." The twins greeted in stereo but lacking their usual cheer.
"Kimmie-cub." James called out as he wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Hope your hungry Kim, for Nana made something special for you." Ann said trying to change the heavy atmosphere in the room.
Kim did her best to smile but everyone could see it was forced as they led her into the kitchen. As they ate everyone did their best to maintain a lively atmosphere and had Kim participating in the conversations occasionally until she started crying. After Kim was Joss and Monique, then Ann and the twins, the meal ended up forgotten so Nana put away the leftovers.
James got a shot of whiskey for him and the adults which they downed while waiting for everyone to calm down.
"I'm sorry." We're the first words out of Kim's mouth once she got her emotions under control. "I'm so sorry."
"Kimberly dear, there's nothing to apologize for." Nana soothed.
"B..but...but!" Kim tried.
"Kim your Nana is right." Monique cut in. "You're not god, Kim, you have to forgive yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault."
Kim looked around the room, her eyes wide and vulnerable and her lower lip quivering as she held back from crying again and nodded.
~~~
Wade was in a world of his own as he kept researching everything that was related wormholes, teleportation, interdimensional travel, the multiverse and time.
At first Wade hadn't researched time but then he thought that the trip to the other universe was instantaneous so he decided to branch out into time. This was the last week for Wade and his appetite was decreasing daily as he came to a realization. This project is the work of a lifetime. This meant two things. One, though it might take years he was confident to eventually Crack it. And two, assuming Ron was safe, he might have given up hope on returning by the time he succeeded.
As the facts sunk in, Wade's trembling hands left the keyboard and caressed his eyes. Soon after tears streamed down his face.
~~~
Yamanouchi, Japan
Yori was kneeling in front of Master Sensei as she reported on Ron's situation, her eyes red from crying.
"Yori, I see you have something you want to say so fear not and speak your mind." Master Sensei said after a minute of silence and seeing that Yori barely held back from speaking.
"... can anything be done to bring Stoppable-san back to us, Master Sensei?" Yori finally managed to ask.
"I am afraid I don't know." Master Sensei said gravely and saw Yori's whole body tremble as if he beat the words into her. Thinking a moment Master Sensei added. "If there is hope I only know of one place we could find it." Yori's body stilled to such a degree that Master Sensei feared her heart ceased to beat prompting him to add. "Yori come with me."
"Yes, Master Sensei." Yori said as she swiftly sprung to her feet, ready to follow.
Master Sensei did not waste time and quickly exited his office and started to lead Yori through the school towards the more secure sections. A few minutes of silence later they arrived at their destination. Standing in front of both Yori and Master Sensei was a shrine that was said to house Yamanouchi's biggest secret. Master Sensei walked towards the Tori gate and pushed a depression on its back. A slight vibration went through Yamanouchi and Master Sensei stepped towards the shrine. A minute later Yori was shocked to see a hidden staircase where none lay before. Master Sensei didn't hesitate to walk down it's step and led Yori to where Yamanouchi housed the Lotus Blade and records dating back thousands of years.
Turning to Yori Master Sensei said. "If there is a way to bring Stoppable-san back it will be among these records."
"Yes, Master Sensei."
Yori agreed and quickly went towards the records as Master Sensei added. "Remember these are older than one can imagine."
~~~
Ron had spent the time since he'd woken up in a holding cell thinking of how to escape. Ron had counted the time since he woke up waiting for Warmonga to bring him into another interrogation after having failed with Shego and dreaded the moment was near.
It was only 12 hours after regaining consciousness that he realized that something was wrong. He'd yet to see Warmonga or hear anything besides his empty stomach all this time. Thankfully water wasn't an issue since there was a sink next to a metal toilet in the cell.
When a day passed Ron knew for certain that he needed to escape and it had to be soon or he'd likely won't have the strength to anymore. With that thought in mind Ron started inspecting the holding cell thoroughly. An hour later Ron was disappointed as he found nothing useful. Again left with no choice, he looked inwards and once again found the MMP.
Ron wasn't completely clueless on how to use the MMP having trained at Yamanouchi but he was worried what might happen to him by having so much power at his beck and call. He remembered having let things go to his head alot and how he acted like a different person. So it was with a bit of apprehension that he began manipulating the MMP that reminded him of a star. The power seemed like an extension of himself but there was also some resistance that made Ron aware that it had sentience though limited.
As Ron used the MMP, he felt it's desire to be one with himself and no longer feared, to improve along side him and be free. This made Ron pause, briefly afraid of losing sight of who he is but he felt the MMP reasure him that this would not be the case. Ron sighed, deep down knowing that everything was about to change but with a last shudder he let the MMP do what it wanted and merge with him.
After a moment, Ron knew instinctively that the process had started and it'll take time to finish. Seeing as he suddenly didn't feel like a different person, Ron relaxed and stood up ready to make his escape. Ron approached the reinforced and practically bullet proof glass and pushed. At first nothing changed but Ron simply kept using the MMP and pushing, then something seemed to click in Ron's mind and with a subtle manipulation of the MMP Ron felt his strength increase explosively causing the reinforced glass to shatter as if it had been fragile.
The second Ron was out of the holding cell he had to choose what to do next, whether hightail it out of there or try and rescue Shego. The choice was made before the alarm start blaring a split second later.
~~~
After Shego had told Warmonga everything she knew about the wormhole, the P.D.V.I and the multiverse theories that Drakken had ranted about, Warmonga nodded and said she'd be back after confirming her claims. This made Shego wonder what she meant by confirming since she should have just confirmed everything Stoppable had admitted to.
With dawning realization Shego understood that Ron never talked and she had just sold her universe without so much as thinking it twice. With that thought in mind Shego tried to convince herself that once her spine was fixed she'd do something about the mess she'd made but as the minutes turned to hours she started to worry.
It was when Warmonga came back that Shego visibly relaxed and asked. "So when's the procedure so fix my spine?"
It was Warmonga's smirk that unsettled Shego the most, the gaint couldn't contain it as she pressed a few buttons and the same hologram as before appeared above Shego. Then Warmonga spoke. "For this type of injury my predecessors determined that it had to be operated within the first 24 hours for the procedure to work."
Hearing Warmonga's words Shego's mind tried it's best to recall how long it's been. "Good, it's only been like twelve hours maybe sixteen."
"That is where you're wrong." Warmonga denied with her smirk widening a little. "The scans show that your injury is 61 hours old. That means that restoring your spine is no longer possible." Warmonga gloated as Shego tried to wrap her mind around her reality. "Seeing as we had a deal the best my technology can do i..."
"You knew!" Shego shouted. "You knew it was too late and still let me believe it could be fixed."
Warmonga looked Shego in the eye as she continued her sentence. "...the best my technology can do is to transfer your mind into a robotic attachment with which you can serve the empire."
"You mean to turn me into a robot?" Shego asked incredulously.
"Techniacly an android but yes, that is the best treatment my technology has to offer." Warmonga confirmed, adding. "I will have a few models displayed for you to select one and will be back to hear your decision. Between us, I recommend you choose one as the alternative won't be desirable."
Shego's thoughts were in disarray after what she heard. Too late to fix the spine, turn into a robot and to top it off unable to even fix her mistake. It was all to much for her, so she closed her eyes and let the tears flow. After a long time and feeling like she had no tears left Shego focused above her head on the hologram models. She quickly noticed a theme, a glorified vacuum or window cleaner, no humanoid options or even war machines to choose from. Shego would be turning into a janitor.
That was Shego's limit, she passed out.
~~~
Warmonga was just arriving at the storage where the documentation showed the P.D.V.I to be located. She had called ahead and asked for the device to be located so as to avoid a delay so she was looking forward to presenting it to the Great Blue. Her achievements should see her elevated to the highest position besides that of the Great Blue, after all she would be presenting him the multiverse to conquer.
Thus, it was in a great mood that Warmonga entered the storage facility and walked by the nervous personnel. Soon arriving at the directors office, she walked in to find a balding human with brown skin sweating profusely as he paced behind a desk. The human proceeded to stutter a greeting and bow before her but Warmonga was growing inpatient.
"Where is the device?" Warmonga asked calmly. Seeing the human flinched as if she yelled got on Warmonga nerves. "I will not repeat myself."
"A-a about th-that." The human began to speak quietly. "I-it ha-as be-een des-stroyed!"
The words were barely understandable for Warmonga thanks to her senses. "What do you mean, it's been destroyed?"
"W-we los-st it an-d a few o-others duri-ing a raid b-by the re-rebels a yea-ar ago." The human explained before stilling as Warmonga glared.
For a moment Warmonga's mind went blank when she heard the man's words then before he blinked she had him by the throat and in the air. The man's body was trembling again even as he struggled to breathe.
"It's creator?" Warmonga asked quietly.
"Dd-deceased." The human stuttered.
"Blueprints?" Warmonga growled.
The man barely shook his head no before Warmonga broke his neck.
"Damn it!!" Warmonga yelled as she rushed to her spaceship. She needed to get to her prisoners and she needed to get there fast.
Or at least before the Great Blue arrives.