“Hey, Ron,” Kim said as she entered Monique's hospital room, her voice slightly hoarse.
“KP!” he yelped, startled as he leapt from the chair he'd been sitting in, his back to the door as he watched Monique sleep. “I mean, KP,” he said guiltily, casting a look at Monique. “Quiet, she's asleep.”
“How is she?” Kim asked, worried.
“She'll live,” Ron said. “The doctors want to keep her tonight for observation, but other than smoke inhalation and some swelling in her jaw, she's going to be fine.”
Kim exhaled. “That's one good thing,” she said. Monique's condition had weighed heavily on her mind during the trip here. Among other things.
Ron finally took a good look at her. “Geez, Kim, what happened to you?”
“No big. I just ruined a good weekend ensemble,” Kim said, taking a seat. There were sooty patches on both her clothes and her skin. She also had bandages around her left forearm.
“No big?” Ron asked dubiously, looking pointedly at her bandages.
She sighed. “No sign of Shego inside Club Banana, or anyone else for that matter,” she told him. “I got burned when some debris almost fell on me. Guess I kept looking a minute too long.” Kim looked away. “The place was gutted, so I guess Mo's out of a job for a while.”
“Something tells me you're more worried about Shego than Monique's job,” Ron said.
“Where is she?” Kim asked helplessly. “Why did she suddenly disappear with Monique's name on her lips?”
“Maybe Monique called her before she passed out in the fire,” Ron suggested.
“But then why wouldn't Shego bring me along?” Kim wondered. She rubbed her eyes. “I hate the way we keep getting separated.”
Ron cocked his head. “You don't like being away from Shego for long, do you?”
Kim blushed.
“Girl's - majorly - crushing - Shego.”
Kim and Ron both swiveled their heads to see Monique gazing at them from her bed. “Monique!” Kim gasped. “How are you feeling?”
“Feeling like - I ate - a pound of sand,” Monique whispered as they sat closer. “Water?”
Ron was immediately there with a glass and a straw. Monique sipped the water. “Thanks,” she said with a bit more volume.
“Is there any pain? Should I call the doctor?” Kim asked.
Monique shook her head imperceptibly. “Where's Shego?”
Kim and Ron glanced at each other. “We don't know,” Kim said. “Why, do you?”
“Nope,” Monique said, and Kim sagged. “Met her clone, though.”
“See, it's not so bad,” Ron told Kim as the redhead gaped at Monique. “Even if we don't know where Shego is, at least we know where her - wait, did you say CLONE?”
Monique nodded. “I think so… she came into Club Banana… but she looked a little different.”
“Different how?” Kim asked intently.
“White streaks in her hair,” Monique said. “And she didn't recognize me… figured her for a clone, so I ran.”
“When did this happen?”
“About five minutes before closing.”
Kim nodded. “Shego and I were together at the Planetarium then, so it couldn't have been her. Someone must have created a clone. Couldn't have been Drakken, he's in GJ custody.”
“Maybe she's an older model,” Ron guessed. “She has white in her hair.”
“One other difference… I sprayed her with Coke but she didn't melt.”
“No melting?” Kim asked, confused. Monique had done the smart thing - Kim had warned her once about Drakken's cloning history and his creations’ fatal weakness. “Maybe someone figured out how to prevent the effect.”
“Maybe she wasn't a clone,” Ron said.
“What else could she be?”
Ron didn't have a response.
“So then what happened?” Kim asked Monique.
“We fought, she won, I passed out. When I came to, the room was on fire, the doors were stuck, and I couldn't get out,” Monique said quietly.
“Shego wouldn't leave someone to die like that,” Kim said.
“Evidently this Shego came with a few less compunctions,” Ron replied.
“So where's my Shego?” Kim asked.
“What do you mean?” Monique asked.
“Shego went running from the Planetarium a little while after you would have first seen the copy,” Kim said.
Monique frowned. “Maybe the clone got to her too.”
Kim shivered. She didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit.
“This is it?” the Supreme One asked doubtfully as she took in her surroundings.
“Hey, sorry if my place isn't ‘supreme’ enough for you,” Shego shot back, her nerves still frayed. “I don't have billions of dollars to spend on arrangements like some people do.”
“Settle down.”
“No, I don't think I will,” Shego said. “I'm still waiting to hear why I should help you.”
The Supreme One stared at her. “Uh, hello? Did I not mention, death of Kim Possible?”
“Like I've never heard anyone promise THAT before,” Shego said, rolling her eyes to hide her growing fear. The Supreme One struck her as just a tad insane, and she worried about what the older woman might do if Shego left her alone. “I seem to recall you promising I could rule the world earlier?”
“Only worried about yourself, huh?” the Supreme One asked, grinning.
“Considering you're me, I'm only worried about one myself - this one,” Shego replied, pointing at her chest. “Tell me how you're going to make me into you.”
The Supreme One shrugged. “We have to steal the Time Monkey.”
“The one that was destroyed.”
“Yes. And no.”
Shego slapped her forehead. “Where's my aspirin?” she asked as she began rummaging through the cabinets in her kitchen.
“In one sense,” the Supreme One explained, “the monkey was destroyed. In my world. What happened to my world, however?”
“It, um, ceased to exist,” Shego said thoughtfully.
“Right. And because of that, Monkey Boy and the others never tried to steal the Time Monkey after all. After all, you have no memory of it, right?”
Shego nodded.
“Which means the two halves are still out there. All you and I have to do is track them down, steal them, put them together, and use it in the exact place and time to activate it.” The Supreme One smiled nastily. “Kim Possible thought she stopped me, but it wasn't for good. When we get the Monkey back, the path is open to riches, power, and eventually, total control.”
“For me, that is,” Shego said. She didn't bother to mention that Kim currently didn't even remember stopping the Supreme One. Since she didn't, exactly. Now she was giving herself a headache. She dry-swallowed two aspirin.
“Excuse me?”
“I'm not going to all the trouble so I can make you queen again. This time, it's my turn,” Shego told her.
The Supreme One nodded after a moment. “That's fine with me. By the time the plan came to fruition, I'll be an old woman. It'll be up to you to run things after that.”
“I get to be in charge,” Shego retorted. “You had your chance.”
“Whatever. As long as I get to enjoy the fruits of our labors too. We can tell people I'm your mother,” the Supreme One snickered.
Shego frowned. “That's not funny,” she snapped.
“No,” the Supreme One agreed. “You're right. It's not.”
Finally, something the two shared besides looks.
“Fine,” Shego said. “First thing I'm deciding is, we put off killing Kim Possible for now.”
The Supreme One exploded. “Are you fucking KIDDING me??!! That's non-negotiable! Possible dies ASAP!”
“We have both fought Kim Possible and lost way too many times to take this lightly,” Shego said. “Hell, you had her beat, and a few minutes later she unmade your whole world. I say we go for the Monkey first, take the element of surprise. Then we use the Monkey to get some real power.”
“That makes sense,” the Supreme One conceded. “And I say fuck what's sensible,” she swiftly continued. “I almost died because of Team Possible! Now it's their turn! If you've gone too soft to help me, I'll do it all myself. And remember, only I know where the two pieces of the Monkey are, so without me, you get nothing except your shitty apartment!”
Shego turned away, feverishly considering her options. For a moment, she thought about giving in. After all, Kim was just a simple affair of the heart. This was world domination she was talking about!
Then she closed her eyes and looked down, heartsick. After everything they'd gone through together…
So you're giving up the opportunity of a lifetime because Kim Possible's an itch that you want scratched? It's official. You haven't just gone soft. You're now dumber than Drakken.
Shego wished this insulting remark had come from her older self. But the Supreme One didn't know about her and Kim yet, which meant she'd only heard it inside her head. It was the voice of that bitter, angry part of her that had nourished her since she'd been born. The part of her that resented and hated Kim for the effect she'd had on Shego's life. Was it only a couple weeks ago that she'd been all but holding Kim's hand during her tearful confession to her parents?
“Soft” was a word Shego avoided like the plague. It didn't matter how hard her muscles were or how fast she could rappel down a skyscraper. It was when she let herself go all mushy over someone, putting someone else's interests over her own, that she was letting go of what made her who she was…
“Evil,” Shego said.
“What?” the Supreme One asked.
“I'm evil,” Shego repeated. “Just like you. And evil means doing what I want, where I want, without giving a shit what other people say. You say Kim took your life from you, tried to kill you, that you want revenge? Well cry me a river,” she sneered. “I - don't - care. I only care about what's mine, and that's power. So if you want to go crap all over Team Possible, be my guest. I'll be getting my Monkey. I'm sure Monkey Fist will tell me what I need to know if I hurt him enough.” She didn't know where Monty was, but the Supreme One didn't need to know that.
The Supreme One's eyes burned hotter than her gloves as she clenched her fists and took a step toward Shego. “You - you - aargh!” She snapped her fingers, dousing her gloves. “Now I know how Dr. D felt all those times!”
Shego grinned. “Like you're any different.”
“Hell, no. Fine, we get the Monkey first. THEN we kill them. Deal?”
“If you want, after we get the Monkey, we can make them suffer before we kill them.”
“The next words out of your mouth had better not be ‘let's break her spirit’.”
“Oh come on, are you trying to tell me that in all your days as the Supreme One, you didn't try to rub Kimmie's nose in it?”
“She wasn't even there, remember? Following me through time?” The Supreme One chuckled. “Still, I trampled over everything she cared about while she was gone. I drove that stupid taco hut Stoppable ate at into bankruptcy. I turned her high school into a re-education camp. I even built my headquarters in this hick burg and renamed it Shegoton.”
“Nice touch,” Shego said. “Only this time, she'll be around to see it happen.”
“And then I kill her,” the Supreme One added.
“Right. But not before you change those clothes.”
The Supreme One blinked. “What?”
“Well, I mean, what happened? What's with the horizontal stripes? And that cape? My outfit was perfect. Why did you tamper with it?”
“I made everyone dress like me. Broad, horizontal stripes were easier and cheaper to make in mass quantities,” the Supreme One said defensively.
“Uh huh, yeah, well see, here in my world, how I look is more important than how much it cost to make,” Shego told her. “I've got a few extras in the bedroom. Don't even think about coming out until you've changed and lost the lame-o cape. Who do you think you are, Batgirl?”
“All right!” the Supreme One snapped. “This is why I never wanted to be cloned,” she grumbled as she stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door.
“Me too,” Shego murmured as she immediately pulled out her cell phone and hit speed dial as she moved as far from the bedroom door as possible.
Being evil meant having what she wanted, and damn the consequences. So really, what was so great about ruling the world? Rule meant responsibilities, and Shego had always prized freedom. She bet the Supreme One never got to take trips to Aruba after she took over. And what had the world ever given her? The world could go screw itself for all she cared.
What had Kim Possible given her? Other than saving her from the Acceptable Family when she had no incentive to, and freeing her from Drakken's mind control? Allowing her life to be turned publicly upside down? Risking the loss her best friends and her parents? Being the lifelong goal which Shego had always striven to equal and perhaps beat? Wanting Shego back?
She wasn't being soft. It was just that she wanted different things right now. And she was going to take them, even if she had to clobber her future self to do it.
Besides, if she had agreed to spend the next twenty years with the Supreme One, one of them would have ended up killing the other anyway.
Kim pulled the cell phone from her pocket with such eagerness that it got tangled in the interior fabric, and a second, ferocious pull nearly tore the pocket. “Hello?” she answered, too impatient to check the caller ID.
“It's me.”
The whispered reply wasn't quiet enough for Kim to recognize who it was. “Shego,” she breathed. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Look, you've got to get to Club Banana right away. I think-”
“Monique's fine, Shego,” Kim interrupted. “She survived the fire.”
“… How did you know?”
“Well, you did mention her name before you ran out tonight,” Kim reminded her. “I thought I should check up on her. Wait, how did YOU know about the fire?”
“Because I've got the person who SET the fire in my apartment, and you need to get over here right now before the crazy bitch decides she wants to kill someone else.”
Kim looked over at Ron and Monique with determined eyes. “Ron and I will be right there.”
Ron raised an eyebrow as Kim waited for Shego's standard objection to his presence. “Fine,” Shego instead replied. “Although seeing the both of you isn't exactly going to lower her blood pressure.”
“Whose blood pressure? Shego, what's going on?”
There was a pause. “Igottago,” Shego said hurriedly before disconnecting.
Kim stared at her phone. “I want to say this is no big, but I have a bad feeling about this,” she said.
“Where is she?” Ron asked.
“Her apartment,” Kim said. “And apparently the clone is there too. We've got to get over there. Monique, will you be all right?”
“I'd be more all right if I could go with you,” Monique said crossly. “I've got scores to settle.”
“Don't worry,” Kim assured her. “After we beat her, I'll bring her back here tied up in ribbon, and you can act out your feelings.”
“I'll bring the baseball bat,” Ron said.
“Bring a six-pack too and we'll have ourselves a party,” Monique added. She smiled. “Go on, girl. Shego needs you more than I do.”
Kim nodded as she rose. “Let's go,” she said to Ron. “We can get what we need from Sadie.”
“Except our Kimmunicators,” Ron groused.
“You're right,” she realized. Their absence had created a lot of problems. She dialed a new number on the cell phone as they left. “Wade.”
“Kim? Aren't you on a date?”
“How are those Kimmunicators looking?” “
“I should have them finished in a few hours. Why?”
“I'm going to be at Shego's place in five minutes. I expect to have a Kimmunicator in my hand when I get there, or I'm going to be a little put out.”
“Oh-kaaay. It won't have all the new-”
“Just do it, Wade.” She hung up.
“Whoa,” Ron said as they entered the elevator. He rubbed his pants pocket and Rufus poked a sleepy head out. “Not even so much as a ‘what's the sitch’ there.”
“Monique was hurt tonight. Shego could be next. This woman's going down,” Kim said icily.
Ron shivered. Kim was getting into Shego mode. All villains, please make sure your health insurance is paid up.
To be continued…