“Suing them?” asked Ron. “What – wh – why?”
“Well, obviously, she has a reason, Ron, or she wouldn’t have that Summons. Wade, two things: Wasn’t that big case Jackie Diane won a while back something about animal rights or similar? And run a check on everything that’s happened at the Middleton Pet Shelter in the last year.”
“Gotcha, Kim!”
Kim stood up. “C’mon, Ron – We’re gonna find Shego.”
“K – Kim! Wait! We have that dinner planned tonight – remember?”
“What? O-oh, yeah. I forgot…” Kim looked down.
But then Ron smiled. His voice became softer. “But hey – it’s just a date. We were on one last night. I can always reschedule it. We’ll have to wait another 6 months, but I can reschedule it.”
“Ron – I-”
“Shh…” Ron stood up, walked over, and planted a kiss on his girlfriend’s lips. “Come on. If you’re gettin'’ a bad vibe off these Pet Shelter guys, then so am I. And I say we investigate.”
Kim blushed. “Ron, have I told you before how sweet you are?”
“I lost count after the first ten, KP. So, where do you think Shego is?”
“Get it! Get it, girl, get it! C’mon, get it, Lha mo! Get the Cuddlebunny!” Lha mo had her mouth frozen wide open, as she tried to pinpoint and bite into the old – Shego couldn’t remember what it was called, Pandaroo or something – that Shego was tapping against every spot on her face, moving it around the dog’s head constantly. Finally, Shego threw the Pandaroo onto the ground. Hearing the smack of where the plush hit, Lha mo dove at it, sinking her teeth into it and shaking the bejeezus out of the plush. Shego smirked. She of the blackest heart, and yet here she was, comforted watching a puppy attack its “prey.”
As Lha mo gnashed her teeth on the Pandaroo’s ear, Shego looked at the bruises on her arms again.
She’d given enough clues. Kim would figure it out.
“Okay – score one point for weird veterinary behaviour…”
“She handed you a piece of paper and told you to get out?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Wow. That’s…really not like her. Oh well, Rufus is glad he didn’t have to go inside.”
“Ho-ho! Shots! Owie!” Rufus chittered.
“So – what’s on the paper?”
“It’s a map of Upperton Park.”
“Upperton Park? The one no one goes to?”
“That would be it, Ron.”
“Hmm…Why don’t we see if there’s a free park bench for the sunset?”
“Hey Lha mo, wanna go outside for a long walk?”
Lha mo’s ears perked up at the phrase “outside.” Immediately, the dog jumped against the pen, whining.
Shego unlocked the pen, put Lha mo on her leash, got her outside, then shut and locked the back door.
“Which way you goin’, Lha mo?” Shego asked as Lha mo sniffed around - and walked towards the park.
“Ok, there’s nothing around here. Still don’t know why she gave up this map.”
“Check out the view, KP.” Ron patted the bench next to where he was sitting, looking out at the sunset.
“That’s gorgeous, Ron…” said Kim, sitting down next to him, taking his hand, and leaning into him.
The Kimmunicator beeped. Ron grumbled as Kim answered it. “Go, Wade.”
“That big case Jackie Diane won was about animal rights – she successfully prosecuted a puppy farm! And that scan of everything that’s happened at the Middleton Pet Shelter – the place is clean, Kim!”
“Okay…” Suddenly, there was the sound of barking in the distance – and it was getting louder, fast. “What th-” A reddish-tan ball of fur appeared, barking and heading straight for Kim. The dog repeatedly tried to jump up on the bench, failing miserably. It jumped at Kim, too, wagging its tail, barking at her.
“AHH! EVIL PUPPY! EVIL PUPPY! CONAN O’BRIEN WAS RIGHT!” Ron shrieked.
“Ron, chill out! it’s just a dog that’s off its leash – or, from the fact this guy has no collar, a dog that just slipped out of its collar. Isn’t that right, you cutie pie, you?” Kim asked the dog. The dog wagged its tail and barked. As Kim looked at the dog’s face a little longer, she noticed something. “Hey – your eyes—”
“Lha mo doesn’t have eyes.”
“AHH!” Ron jumped a mile in the air. Shego was right next to him, and he’d seen nothing a second ago.
Kim whirled around. “Shego?”
“At least, she doesn’t have eyes anymore.” Shego curled her fist and grit her teeth. “Those bastards…”
“Sh-Shego?” asked Kim.
Shego looked at her. “You like green tea, Princess? Or would you prefer coffee?”
“Ok, barring the fact you have a house and a dog, why are you trying to sue the Middleton Pet Shelter?”
Shego finished locking the pen, walked into the kitchen, grabbed a binder from the cookbook shelf, and dumped two polaroids on the kitchen table. “Before I went to jail for the Lil’ Diablo incident; After I got out.”
Kim stared at the pictures. The “before” pic showed Lha mo, eyes open – though with a minor cherry eye – wagging her tail at the camera. The “after” pic? Lha mo’s fur in matts, and her eyes nearly sealed shut by dried sleep gunk. The dog looked in serious pain. “Oh my god…” Kim looked back at Shego.
Shego put the cup of tea down next to Kim. “The Pet Shelter was where they took her after I got busted. They were supposed to take good care of her. But they didn’t check her cherry eye. They didn’t put the medicated eyedrops in her eyes like I specifically wrote them to do. Didn’t groom her at freaking all!”
Kim clicked the puzzle together. “You’re suing them for animal neglect…”
“Animal neglect in the first degree, Kimmie. When I went in, her eyes were perfect, save the cherry eye. But they just ignored her. All that caked up sleep gunk? Scratched her corneas to pieces. She was pretty much completely blind by the time I was released. She was in so much pain from her scratched eyes… Judy tried, but found the only thing that would relieve her pain was to take her eyes out. Thank god their fur grows so fast. I sometimes forget that she doesn’t have any eyes myself every once and a while.”
“This is so weird…” Ron blurted out.
“What’s so weird? That I’m suing someone instead of robbing ‘em? Please… The last time I was in crime, I nearly got shocked to death as the result of a well-placed kick. I’m done with criminal life.”
“No – it’s just…I didn’t know you could care for anything, Shego.”
“Ron! Could you be any more rude?” Kim scolded.
Shego chuckled. “Nah, that was actually kind of funny…”
“Wait - I nearly killed you when I kicked you into that antenna?” Kim asked, stunned.
Shego waved her hand. “Not important here, Princess.”
“R-right. So… Why didn’t you just have the people there arrested?”
“When it’s overseen by the police themselves? Ha!”
“All right. You have enough evidence to support a trial?”
“Judy gave me copies of all her records. Jackie’s law firm dug up some dirt on some of the employees regarding similar cases in other Pet Shelters that they’ve worked at. I’ve got those two polaroids…”
“Good. Well, they’ve got more charges than just animal neglect to answer to, as far as I’m concerned…”
“ Wait, what?” asked Shego. “Other charges? Like what?”
“Obstruction of Justice, for one.”
“Huh – Oh…”
“Is Lha mo gonna be alright?” asked Kim.
“Pfft… She may be small, but she’s a fighter, Lha mo… She was back to herself in no time after the sutures were removed and she didn’t need the neck collar anymore.” Shego grinned. “In a lot of ways, she’s like you, Pumpkin. Doesn’t know when to give up, even if it means barking incessantly at 4 am…”
For the first time ever, knowingly in the presence of Shego’s gaze, Kim blushed.
“So…Get ‘em in the morning?” asked Shego.
“Yeah. Let’s give ‘em an early wake-up call, followed by an arrest.”
“You know what we should do? Have that naked mole rat show them the warrant. Freak ‘em out a bit with some irony.”
Suddenly, Lha mo started barking.
“Oh, what now, gi – Oh, that stinks! Dammit, Lha mo!” Shego groused, getting up to clean up the mess.
Lha mo just tilted her head, wagged her tail, and barked again.
“In a stunning turn of events, the class-action animal neglect lawsuit filed by Kim Possible and former archenemy Shego gained yet another set of defendants claiming the Middleton Pet Shelter neglected their pets while they spent time in prison…”
THE END