Ch.04
Ron didn't know how to find Shego at first. He had started running hoping to find security personnel or a control room but seven minutes later he was starting to sweat after destroying a set of robots, again, with nothing to show for it.
Desperation creeping into his thoughts Ron focused the MMP on finding another living being first. A couple of tense seconds later and he got two readings, one three floors up judging by the distance from floor to ceiling and the other a few corridors to his left. Seeing as he was closer to the one on his floor, Ron chose to go to that one first. A few turns later and Ron rushed into a medical bay and found Shego unbound but laying on the bed unresponsive.
"Shego!" Ron yelled upon seeing her. "Great, you're okay. Now come on we're getting out of here."
"Leave me I'll only slow you down." Shego said barely above a whisper.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked. "Did Warmonga do something to you?"
"Can't you see!?" Shego shouted and Ron flinched expecting a plasma blast when he saw the familiar glow.
When nothing happened Ron walked closer and asked. "What happened?"
No answer.
Ron finally noticed the hologram models displaying various robots. "Why is Warmonga showing you cleaning bots?" He asked.
Again no answer but this time he had an idea as to what could have happened. With that thought in mind Ron waited a moment and acted. Ron wasn't sure if he was happy to finally connect the dots or shocked at what happened to Shego.
Shego, Kim's nemesis was paralyzed and if he remembered right, Kim herself might be responsible. Now he understood what she meant by slow him down and why she was being shown cleaning bots, that was her prize after having told Warmonga everything but Ron couldn't blame her. For Shego who relied and counted on her body to suddenly find herself paralyzed must be the thing of nightmares. Add that to the fact that he touched her arm and she didn't react, Ron could assume that it was from the neck down.
"I'm not leaving you here." Ron said and scooped Shego into his arms.
Shego was too shocked to react at first but in moments got her wits back. "Leave me, you can already tell I'm useless."
"No." Ron simply said and started to run, now looking for an exit.
"So what, big bad sidekick wants revenge on the crippled?" Shego asked with such venom that it caused Ron to stumble.
"You and I both know that's not true, Shego!" Ron countered.
"Then why are you bringing me along? I'm of no use to anybody." Shego replied adding. "Unless it's for some sick fantasy."
"What?! No!" Ron yelled. "I'm just not letting you get turned into a cleaning bot just because Warmonga says nothing can be done!" And added. "I'll fix your spine myself!"
Shego's eyes widened, here she was stuck in an alternate universe with the sidekick of all people and he was promising to help her quite literally get back on her feet.
"I'll hold you to that, Stoppable." Shego replied solemnly.
~~~
Unknown Location, same time as Ron triggered the alarms at the holding facility.
"We got activity in one of the Great Blue's holding cells!" A male voice called out.
"We have no one that's been captured, must be a trap." Another man replied coming closer to inspect the screens.
"It's the same one Warmonga took whatever came out of that portal." The previous voice added. "It's worth investigating."
"We are too far for anything covert and doing otherwise would cost lives. IT IS NOT WORTH THE RISK!" The second one insisted.
"But what if..." The first one started to argue but was interrupted.
"You want to do something so bad? Fine! Send it to her, she'll check it out." The second one conceded.
"Her! You know she hasn't been the same since we lost to the Great Blue." The first voice said astonished.
"It's either you contact her or we do nothing." The second man said then added. "Now choose."
"Fine, but I'm telling her it was your idea." The first man agreed.
~~~
At a bar three clicks away from the where Ron and Shego are.
"What do you want?" A woman's voiced growled irritably at her communications unit.
"There's activity near your location that Number One wants you to look into." The same man that discovered activity at the holding facility reported.
"What's that got to do with me?" She asked.
"It's where whatever came out of that portal was taken." The man answered.
There was a moment of silence before she spoke. "Any idea what IT was?"
"No luck so far." The man replied.
Another moment of silence. "Fine, I'll bite."
After those words the woman hung up, finished her drink and left the bar.
~~~
Ron struggled to find a way out of the holding facility till he decided to literally smash his way out. Ron started smashing walls in one direction hoping to run into a window or a dead end. To his surprise he found a dead end that now provided a spectacular view.
Ron could instantly tell they were about ten floors up. At first he had no immediate answer as to how to escape though he could tell that if he was alone he could scale down but carrying Shego, Ron knew that wasn't an option. As he looked around, Ron remembered something that Master Sensei did a while back.
Just as Ron was about to let Shego know his plan and it's risk, she spoke up. "Don't tell me that you can't see the only choice you have?"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked momentarily thrown off.
"Leave me behind and scale down. I know you should be able to do it." Shego explained.
"Yes I cam but I'm still not leaving you behind." Ron said. "Now be careful no to bite your tongue."
With those words and no warning, Ron jumped with Shego in his arms.
"So you chose suicide?" Shego yelled as they plummeted towards the ground bellow.
Ron didn't respond as he focused on what he was doing. It was passing the third floor that he glowed blue and their momentum slowed to a soft landing.
Shego stared at Ron making him self conscious but it seemed she couldn't find the words to talk to him. Resisting the urge to ask what was on her mind, Ron looked around and saw that the nearest building was around a hundred yards away taunting the distance to freedom. Ron knew he could easily loose persuers in the city though he couldn't recognize the city to any he remembered. Ten floors up he came up with nothing and being on the ground didn't bring any inspiration.
"Off we go." Ron said and began sprinting towards the building in the distance.
Ten yards in, Ron's senses felt his body dip lower than expected and he knew he was moments away from a very dangerous dilemma. No time to overthink, Ron dove forwards while being careful to cradle Shego's head and body since she would be forced to bounce around with him and looked to where he was just in time to see an energy barrier that radiated enough heat to dry his eyes instantly and begin to fill the space he'd just been in.
"That is just as scary as a minefield." Ron exclaimed and stood up. "You okay Shego?"
"Peachy, now start moving before we turn to ashes." Shego replied.
"What do y...?" Ron began to question when another energy barrier sprang up at his back close enough that his hair ignited. "Ahhhh!" Ron yelled and took off faster than he ever moved before. He was forced to jump, zigzag, back track and flip his way across the next sixty meters before he cleared the the energy field. "Phew, that was something." Ron said feeling his heart hammer in his chest.
"Your hair is on fire." Shego simply reminded.
"Ahhh!" Ron yelled and knelt down so that he could balance Shego on his knee and use his right hand to put out the fire at the back of his head. "Thanks."
"Sure, now get us out of sight before we have company." Shego replied.
A few seconds later and Ron had passed the building and into the city, taking a few turns to check for pursuers and when he spotted none he jogged further into the side streets and back alleys.
"Any ideas where we are?" Ron asked Shego still not recognizing the city.
"That would be Middleton." A woman's voiced answered him.
"How can you tell?" Ron asked not realizing it wasn't Shego who spoke.
"Stoppable that wasn't me." Shego said in a strangely calm voice.
Ron tensed, standing slowly with Shego in his arms. Turning he saw a woman he hadn't been expecting holding him at gunpoint. "Dr. Director?!"