Kim sat in the women's locker room, head bowed, shoulders hunched, as she recounted her newest loss of self-control. Who knew that Shego could affect her like this?
She looked up miserable at the three good-sized dents to the locker in front of her. Thankfully, the locker had no owner. It just belonged to the gym.
‘I'm a vandal,’ She thought miserably, burying her face in her hands. She had gone to a gym she was a regular at to work out, having taken up kick boxing in her spare time. Kim would just hit the bag, do a little shadow boxing, work on the speed bag… things to keep her body in constant repetitive motion. It was therapeutic, and it kept her mind off of… her…
Kim Possible usually didn't fight because her reputation proceeded her. People knew better than to challenge the young woman, and if there was someone foolhardy enough to try to win the right to boast that they beat Kim Possible… well, challengers were quickly put in their place, without the redhead even breaking a sweat.
And today, there was one such challenger. A heavyweight boxer, who had rudely interrupted her workout.
“Yo, girly.” His huge frame hovered over her as one of the old trainers had been spotting her while she was doing bench presses. “Girly, you might want to put that down in case you hurt yourself.”
That comment stung her pride. Shego had already put a dent in it and Kim was extra sensitive to criticism since her encounter with Drakken's sidekick three weeks ago. She had even snapped at Ron when he had told her parents why he thought she was so down. And got it right on the money. Now everybody who had daily contact with her walked on eggshells.
So the comment about her strength really irked her. Kim had bristled and put the bar back on the rack, glaring at the large man.
“What did you say?” Her voice was thick with rage and she could barely manage to choke out the words.
The man, seeing that he had touched a nerve, flashed her an arrogant grin that showed off two perfect rows of teeth. “Said you weak, girly. Heard you were pretty hot and word gets around. You wanna spar?”
Kim's jaw had tightened into a grimace, and she had walked towards the ring without another word and jumped in. People gathered to watch the fight, as the opponents got into opposite ends of the ring to prepare.
The teenager was glad that she had worn gloves. Or else her bare knuckles would have done more damage to her challenger than she had already done.
Nobody was at her level. She beat grown men three times her size to whimpering pulps.
She pulled at the velcro tabs of her gloves, pulled her gloves off and threw them into her bag. Somewhere in the shower room, she was vaguely aware of the sound of dripping water and it slowly seemed to overwhelm the sound of the people outside…
Kim Possible faced off with the large caucasian man, who seriously needed a tan. He threw off his white robe, revealing what he was wearing underneath: green boxers with black stripes on the side. Kim felt another rush of irritation.
Shego's colours.
It was like waving red in front of a bull.
“I'll go gentle on you, girl.” The man had said loudly, so other people could hear his boast. But most of the regulars at the gym had at one time or another seen contenders go up against the teenaged heroine. And go down. Hard.
Kim didn't bother to throw out taunts. She just put up her dukes and bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting grimly.
Taking off her tanktop, she exposed toned abdominal muscles, the kind that brought to mind the term ‘washboard abs’ and a simple black sportsbra. She walked to the fall length mirror set up in the locker room and looked at herself, took inventory.
Strands of red hair was getting loose from the ponytail she had put it in when she was working out and she brushed it out of her face.
A thin white scar across her side that was disappearing slowly. A memento from Shego from a fight five years ago.
Her hands ran up and down her arms, noting the play of strength underneath peaches'n'cream skin.
Kim ducked his first attack, avoided it easily as if he was moving in slow motion and brought her left leg up to knee him in the side before dancing away. Kim was going to work this one slowly. She watched as he approached again, this time, wary of her prowess. Her attack had been lightning quick, sharp and extremely painful. But he wasn't going to let a little girl show him up! He wasn't going to lose to her!
The upper half of her body was a work of art, marred only by Shego's mark. The lower part didn't slack either, as shapely muscular thighs ran down into smooth, muscled calves. Perfectly accompanying the top part of Kim. She was no Hercules, not even a Xena. Maybe a Gabrielle…
Kim was just toying with him now. A few vicious kicks, jabs into the midsection and uppercuts(she was too short to punch him in the face) later, and he was staggering. He was seriously regretting his remark on her strength. He could feel each blow ringing through his body, and even after half an hour of the intense exercise, the boxer could see that sweat barely dotted his opponent's forehead.
Running a finger along the light scar on her side, she shivered slightly. And felt oddly sorrowful that this battle scar would fade into nothing. Kim had borne it proudly for years. It had been an ugly long scar when Shego had scraped her side with a flaming fist. And she had beaten the other woman.
“Stop, Kim, STOP!” Several boxers had jumped into the ring to hold the furious woman back. Her opponent stayed in a fetal position until he was sure the young woman was far enough away for him to crawl/roll out of the ring into safety.
The redhead was breathing heavily, straining against the people holding her, battling against her own temper. The heavyweight should have just given up at the beginning! If he was going to fight like that, he might as well not fight at all! Everything had been so slow, and she could see his moves coming from a mile away. Had to wait for him to catch up to her speed, her time frame, before rewarding him with three quick punches and a kick.
He was holding her back. And she felt maddened by it.
“Sorry guys,” She relaxed, went limp in their arms as the battle rage left her. “I got caught up in the moment.”
“Its alright, Kim. Just calm down a bit.” Someone patted her on the back, and they all had understanding looks on their face. Each one of them had had a time in their life when they've just been down or hit an obstacle, and the gym was one of the places they would come to vent frustration. All of the boxers had seen and recognized Kim's mood and let her alone.
“You just go and take a five,” The owner of the gym patted Kim on the back. “Relax.”
Kim stood under the showerhead and braced herself as a blast of cold water hit her full on and steadily increased in temperature as she turned the knob to hot slowly.
“Come find me when you're ready to grovel, Kimmie.”
Kim watched tiny rivulets of water run off her body and into the drain, totally drained of emotions.
“Shego…” Kim was startled. The name that had escaped her lips echoed in the empty change room, louder than she thought it would be. And for some odd reason, she waited expectantly, as if just saying Shego's name would bring the girl into existence.
But of course, Shego didn't appear.
“Stupid.” Kim turned off the shower and walked out of the shower room, wrapping a towel around herself, resolving to soak in a nice bubble bath that night. As she put on her clothes and slipped on her bra, she suddenly noticed something.
There was silence.
Usually, the noise from the gym, the sound of fists impacting on punching bags, the staccato rythym of the speed bag being hit would reach her ears. Usually, she would hear shouts from people sparring and trainers and coaches yelling at their charges.
But there was silence.
Kim Possible slipped into the relaxed-fit jeans she had chosen to bring, feeling thankful that she had, because she had a feeling the silence boded no good for her. She put on her black t-shirt and slipped into her K-Swiss shoes. Finally, feeling that she was as ready as she would ever be for a fight, she walked to the exit of the change room and opened the door with trepidition.
“Hey, Kimmie.” Shego stood in the middle of the gym, hands on her hips. The gym-goers were lying around haphazardly on the floor.
“Sleeping gas,” Shego waved her hand around the gym. “Don't worry about them. I was waiting out here for a while, you know? You took long enough in the shower.”
“Shego.” Kim looked around suspiciously, as if expecting a trap.
“Just me here.” Shego smirked.
“What are you doing here?” Kim felt herself tensing again.
“I thought around this time you would come looking for me.” Shego shrugged, still standing in the centre of the gym, not moving from her spot. “So I'm impatient. I came looking for you.”
“Looking for another fight?” Kim walked towards Shego until she was only 5 feet away from the other woman.
“Looking to raise the stakes.” Shego bared her teeth in a vicious grin. “Did it kill you when I beat you so easily?”
Kim's hands immediately clenched into fists and her face went red with outrage.
“I see.” Shego saw Kim's reaction and smirked. “Would you like to know how I beat you?”
Kim's expression turned eager, and Shego laughed.
“Like I said, we'll up the stakes.” Shego clapped her hands together and held them up to her lips, as if praying. “One match. Free for all. If you win--”
“--you teach me what you've learned.” Kim completed Shego's sentence for her.
Shego raised an eyebrow. Then her face took on a ruthless expression. “Fine. But if I win, I own you for three years.”
Kim opened her mouth to protest, but Shego cut her off. “You won't be asked to do anything criminal. I'm going off on a sabbatical to China. Nothing but wilderness. I need someone there with me.”
“What about Drakken?”
Shego snorted at the question.
“Okay, fine, that was a stupid question.”
There was a long silence.
“So?” Shego's eyes danced with glee, egging her on. Daring her. “Are you scared, Kimmie?”
“So not the drama.” Was Kim's automatic reply as she looked at Shego with determination. Three years. That was a very long time. She was only eighteen years old. But the sting of her defeat by Shego three weeks ago was still fresh in her mind.
“Deal.”
“You're not going to back out when I win, right?”
“I'm not going to lose to you and I don't make promises I don't intend to keep.” Kim settled into a ‘ready’ position. “Lets go.”
Shego smiled. “Good girl.”
endnote: if there are any mistakes, feel free to tell me. And you BEST believe the Renamon/Rika story is gonna be back up as soon as I get back home and find it and upload it again. >:(